A Touch of Lightning
by SereneCalamity
Summary: When Jace's pack encounters an enemy they don't understand, they are forced to call in help from a powerful Spark who seems to know a lot more than what she's saying. Clace. Werewolf/Spark AU.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey guys! So I'm back with a new story! I am going on a bit of a hiatus after I post this, but I'll be back with a regular updating schedule next year!_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story._

"What the fuck is going on?!" Jace Herondale snapped as he felt another uncomfortable rush of wind and an unfamiliar werewolf's scent nearby, but it had disappeared into the darkness of the forest by the time he turned around. He could feel Alec Lightwood's presence at his back, which was the only comforting thing that was going on right now.

"It's an Alpha," Alec growled, his face ridged, his eyes glowing beta-gold, his fangs dropped and making his words slightly lisped.

"I got that much," Jace swung around again as he caught the scent again and saw another flash of red eyes, this time a little closer, and he was pretty sure that he heard a laugh, but he couldn't be sure. He curled his fingers into fists, his claws digging into the palms of his hand, drawing blood and dripping onto the broken branches, scattered leaves and damp mud beneath his feet. Suddenly, he lifted his head, hearing a familiar heart beat nearby, and panting, and a panicked scent. "This way," Jace hissed over his shoulder, already taking off at a run, Alec close behind, able to hear the same thing. There was a howl, one of pain, and Jace began running faster, feeling desperate.

It was almost pitch black, just after two in the morning, and the canopy layer of branches blocking out almost all of the glow from the moon and the stars. Both Jace and Alec could see perfectly, though, their eyes glowing, their werewolf senses giving them the advantage as an apex predator. They were moving so fast, any human who was watching them would just see a blur and feel a rush of air, their brains having no idea how to process what their eyes were seeing.

The howl came again, strung out and urgent, and Jace changed his direction slightly, finally able to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. The howl made something deep inside him vibrate, telling him that someone in his pack was in pain, someone in his pack needed him, and with a final leap, he cleared a small creek and came out into a clearing, the smell of blood washing over him.

"Izzy!" Alec cried out as they rushed over to Isabelle Lightwood, who was lying on the ground, wincing and holding her hand to her neck. Maia Roberts was next to her, her eyes glowing gold and panicked as she whipped her head from side to side, watching the tree line, as though waiting for someone to come back. Jace could hear her heart beat thumping so hard in her chest that if she was human, Jace would be worried about her giving herself a heart attack. Alec looked down at Isabelle's leg, which appeared to be broken in more place than one, and there was a gash on her neck. The leg would start healing soon, that was no problem, although it would be uncomfortable for a little bit.

The slash on the side of her neck, though—skin started knitting itself back together a lot faster than bone, and it should already be healing. Jace frowned when he realized that it was still opening and bleeding steadily.

"We need to get her out of here," Jace murmured.

"I've got her," Alec said, picking up his sister bridal style and standing up easily, her weight no problem for him. Maia was vibrating next to them, her breathing coming out shaky and harsh, and Jace reached over to put his hand on the back of her neck, squeezing just slightly to reassure her, and she visibly relaxed at the touch of her Alpha.

"What's happening?" Maia asked, her eyes still darting around the clearing.

"It's an Alpha," Alec informed both her and his sister, his voice low, tightening his grip on Isabelle.

"He didn't seem like an Alpha," Isabelle grunted out, clenching her teeth together and lifting on hand to swipe it through her hair which was hanging in ragged clumps around her face.

"His eyes were red," Maia muttered. "But there was _something_ about him...He didn't smell right."

"I don't give a shit what he smelt like," Jace growled. "We just need to get out of here. We need to regroup." He tipped his head back, his fangs protruding again as he let out a howl, one that shook the trees closest to them, and birds let out squawks and flew out of the trees, away from the group of werewolves. "Where are the others? I told you not to split up."

"It wasn't our fault," Maia protested, sounding more indignant now than scared.

"Fucking aye!" Isabelle added, her voice a little weak but still annoyed.

"We'll talk about this later," Jace cut off any arguments from the girls as he held up a hand, indicating that everyone hold their tongue. He couldn't hear his other beta's, and that worried him. Not being within hearing distance meant that they were pretty damn far away, and for them not to be respond to their Alpha's call meant they were in trouble. They weren't even meant to be out here tonight; it was a complete fluke that this was all happening, that was what worried Jace more. The fact that they had no idea what they were dealing with, that they had never even _smelt_ another Alpha in their territory, or the fact that maybe if they hadn't been here at a time when they weren't meant to be, they might never have found out.

But Aline Penhallow had told them he felt as though that's where they needed to be, and so the pack had all headed out to the woods that surrounded the township. She couldn't explain these senses that she got sometimes, and it was only recently that they had discovered she was a banshee, and were still trying to hone her skills. However, she was generally right when she got a feeling of where they needed to be, so they had gone.

And now they were in the woods, Isabelle was injured, the rest of his pack was scattered and there was an Alpha who appeared to be intent on doing more harm to them.

"Get them out of here," Jace told Alec. "I'll find the others."

"I'm fine, I'll come with you," Maia began.

"No," he snapped at her. "I want you to go with them." Maia looked like she wanted to disagree, but Jace just flashed his eyes at her before taking off into the woods in the direction that Isabelle and Maia had been running in. He picked up on the scent of Jem Carstairs and was about to change his direction when the hair on the back of his neck prickled and he knew that there was someone directly behind him. Jace side stepped and only just missed having a fist smack the back of his head. Jace whipped to the side, spinning around and coming face to face with the Alpha for the first time.

He had dark hair, with streaks of grey, and there was a strange scar on the right side of his neck, curving up toward his face. His eyes were blood red and his fangs were dropped, a throaty growl in his chest. Jace's eyebrows pulled together, furious as he smelt a hint of Isabelle coming from the man, undoubtedly from where he had slashed at her throat.

"Was that your pretty beta back there?" The Alpha teased, speaking through his fangs, his lips curled back in an ugly, cruel sneer. "It was a good thing I didn't really want to hurt her, or else those scratches would have been a whole lot worse."

"This is not your territory," Jace fought to keep his voice even, knowing that if he let his anger take over it was going to blind him and he wasn't going to get answers. "You attacked my beta without any cause, you know I can't just let that go," he flexed his fingers, his claws itching to lunge forward and sink them into the mans skull, feel the bone collapse underneath his palms. The smell of Isabelle's blood on this strange Alpha's hands was making his senses go haywire, just wanting to kill the man who had hurt a member of his pack. He had never fought an Alpha before, but his instincts were driving him forward, telling him to attack.

"I really don't think you're going to do all that much about it, to be totally honest," the Alpha was smirking at him through his fangs, completely unworried.

"Oh yeah?" Jace stepped forward, his eyes flickering over the Alpha's face, the scar on his neck looking a whole lot more red than it had just a few seconds ago. He frowned, wondering what was happening, and that moment of hesitation cost him because the Alpha surged toward him. Jace was caught off guard for a split second, and that was enough for the other Alpha to gain an advantage and send him flying backwards. Jace let out a roar as he smacked against a tree, his head crunching against the trunk before he fell to the ground. He could feel blood dripping down, underneath the collar of his shirt, and he shook his head, feeling his body instantly beginning to heal as he stood back up.

"Come on," the Alpha taunted, and Jace charged. The two men met in the middle, both of their solid bodies slamming together. Jace slashed out with his clawed hands but the other Alpha ducked away, kicking out his leg and catching the back of Jace's knee, sending the golden haired man buckling forward before he caught himself. The whole thing was a blur of movement, the sickening snap of bone ringing out as Jace grasped the Alpha's arm and threw it backwards.

It took longer than Jace would have liked, but nowhere near as long as it should when fighting another Alpha, and he realized what Maia had meant. The man was clearly an Alpha, but there was something off about him. While he had never been injured from an Alpha, he had heard that it could take days for a wound from one to heal, even as an Alpha himself, drawing on the strength from the rest of his pack, but so far he was feeling confident in his ability not to get hurt.

Jace had him on the ground, one of his knees pressing into his bicep, the other knee balancing himself on the other side of the Alpha's torso, and his claws were poised over his throat. He wasn't prepared to deliver the final blow, to kill this Alpha, but he was threatening to lash out in order to make him freeze and stop fighting back.

"I'm going to do to you exactly what you did to Isabelle," Jace growled down at the man, leaning in close to his face, letting his eyes burn viciously at him. This Alpha might have been older, but from the way his eyes were dimming, it was clear that his will was nowhere near as strong as Jace's. "And then you're going to get the fuck out of my territory, and I never want to catch your scent around here again." The Alpha didn't say anything, but suddenly the circular scar on his neck was even brighter—practically glowing red—and Jace was caught off guard. He blinked, and was about to lash his claws out at the Alpha's throat, planning on scratching him up like he had done to Isabelle when he felt a piercing pain in his shoulder. He twisted his body to the side, letting out a yowl of pain as he rolled away from the Alpha and reached over his shoulder, scrabbling for the source of the burn.

It was a knife, buried behind his shoulder, and made of silver if the burn that was spreading over his back. He pulled it out, feeling the burn on his palm as he dropped it the ground. The other Alpha rolled away from him and Jace tried to search for who had thrown the knife, and he caught a glimpse of someone in the trees and he caught a whiff of something bitter and angry but then there were claws buried in his side, tearing through his flesh.

Jace let out another roar, the pain burning through his veins as the Alpha dragged his claws down his side, before his vision started blurring at the corners.

 _Alright! So, my recommendations this time...Songwise, the ones I've had on repeat are;_ Somebody New _, by Cedric Gervais. Fucking loooove it, my husband hates it, but I play it loud as hell when I'm the only one in the car. Haha._ First Time _by Kygo and Ellie Goulding, this one is cute and sweet, makes me think back to being a teenager. Then there's_ Easy _by Sky Ferreira, which is just beautiful, from the movie_ Baby Driver _, and the last one is_ Too Much To Ask _by Niall Horan, which is just so pretty._

 _Movie wise, I've recently seen_ Kingsmen 2 _, which was fucking great, although my favourite character...*quietly sobs in corner*. Also_ It _, which was great as well, the kids were all so fucking brilliant in that movie, and I have to admit, I ship Reddie. I think they're absolutely adorable. Bill Skarsgard did an amazing job. And then tomorrow, I'll be seeing_ Thor: Ragnorok _! It looks amazing, so fingers crossed._

 _And then in the TV show area, I've just started watching_ The Gifted _, which is pretty good so far. Also binged the second season of_ Shooter _, which I've really enjoyed, and I hope that there's more! Another one is_ Wynonna Earp, _which took me a while to get into, but I love it now. Wynonna and Waverly are just fucking amazing. And then there's just the general shows that I've been keeping up with, like_ How To Get Away With Murder, Gotham _and_ NCIS: Los Angeles _, all of which are great._

 _So! Let me know what you guys think of the chapter, let me know if you guys have any prompts or songs you want me to write about (any of the fandoms I'm in, check my profile, and keep in mind I will try to write them, but can't guarantee all of them) and absolutely recommend any songs, movies, tv shows or fics to me!_

 _There's a preview of the next chapter for a review... xxx_


	2. Chapter 2

_I'm back! We're 2018! It does_ not _feel like it at all. Haha. It still feels like 2017. Anyway, I hope that you all had a great Christmas and New Years, fun but safe (even though that make me sounds like a mum). Mine started well and then I had a bit of an accident which is taking a while to recover from, but we'll get there. And I hope that the first month of 2018 has been great! I've got a few concerts coming up which I'm psyched about—Ed Sheeran, Pink and Halsey, so that's awesome._

 _Now, my official updating schedule is kicking off from February, this update is just to get all my stories updated and get my oneshots posted. Check out my profile for the schedule. There are a variety of oneshots posted in quite a few categories, so make sure you check them out, along with my profile for the updating schedule going forward!_

He was only out for about a minute, but that was enough time for the Alpha and whoever had distracted him to disappear like smoke into the night. Jace let out a groan, feeling his body try to fight against the gashes in his side, but he knew that they weren't going to heal, at least not straight away, not like the other breaks and bruises that he had right now. The pain was radiating through his body, and Jace drew in a couple of angry breaths through his teeth before forcing himself to his feet.

He almost blacked out again from the pain, and the only thing keeping him on his feet was drawing on every shred of will power left in his bones.

Jace's body twitched as he heard two people, rapidly approaching, and he flinched as he heard them only several hundred metres away. But then he let out a sigh of relief, recognizing the scents and familiar heart beats of his pack.

"Jace!" Max Lightwood shouted out as he reached Jace first, his eyes glowing and his fangs bared as he looked around, trying to find who had attacked their Alpha. He was the youngest in the pack, and Jace was glad that he wasn't hurt, because the protective instinct that they all felt toward him would probably have driven all the were's after whoever had done this relentlessly.

"They're gone," Jace wheezed, every breath he was taking in making his body chest ache. The claw marks were mainly up his side, but one of the outer gashes stretched towards his chest.

"Shit," Jem breathed as he reached out and wrapped an arm around his Alpha, grabbing Jace's arm to brace it around his shoulder and helping to take his weight. "Let me take your pain," Jem murmured, the hand that was around Jace's waist tightening, flattening out his palm against Jace's side but purposefully not drawing any of the pain until he got permission. Jace looked as though he was going to refuse, but as he took a step forward, another shot of searing pain shot through him and he sighed, and nodded. Jem looked relieved, hating to see anyone in pain and especially his Alpha, and slid his hand underneath Jace's shirt, touching the skin of his side.

"Jace!" Will Herondale, Jace's cousin, skidded into the clearing. "You look like shit," Will attempted a smile but there was worry in his eyes as he looked down to where Jem was drawing out Jace's pain. Jem's veins were black as they pulled out as much pain as he could. Jace felt his mind going heavy as the pain dulled to a manageable ache and he grunted at the back of his throat.

"That's enough," Jace stated, even though he knew that the pain would almost completely go away if he let Jem go for just a little bit longer. But the more the pain dulled, the less focused his mind would be, and he still wasn't one hundred percent certain that the Alpha and their companion was gone for good.

"Why aren't they healing?" Jem chewed down on his lower lip worriedly as he looked down at the gashes.

"It was an Alpha," Jace replied through gritted teeth, flicking his head backwards to throw his hair out of his eyes. "I think they're gone. We need to get back to the cars—the others are already there."

"I can smell Izzy's blood," Max suddenly snapped from where he was still sniffing around where Jace and the Alpha had been fighting, the ground all scuffed and marked up. "Is she okay?"

"He didn't get her deep," Jace assured him, although the mention that another member of their pack had been hurt had the three beta's looking horrified and even more on edge. "Alec and Maia are with her now, they're back at the cars."

"Can you walk?" Will looked him up and down hesitantly.

"I'll be fine," Jace retorted, trying to pull away from Jem to stand by himself, but the pain shot back through him. Jem rolled his eyes and put his arm around Jace's middle, forcing Jace to put his arm back around Jem's shoulders. "Okay; Will, Max, you go ahead. We'll catch up." Max nodded and immediately took off into the night toward where their cars were parked on the edge of the woods. Will hung back, though, his eyes looking between Jace and Jem.

"I think it'd be best if I stay back with you two in case he comes back," Will murmured, taking up a place at Jace's other side. Usually Jace would get annoyed at his beta for not listening to him, but he knew that Will was just looking out for them, and so he let it go. The blood at the back of his head was still damp, but the wound itself was almost all healed, and the sprain of his ankle was gone now. The slashes on his side, however, were going to be a completely other story.

* * *

"You really need to stop showing up here like this," Lydia Branwell sighed as she opened the back door to her home and saw the werewolves gathered there on the doorstep. Her narrow eyes looked over them, noting the way blood was dripping down Isabelle's neck and Jace's usually stoic expression was etched with pain. She sighed again, but she stepped aside, letting them into the house. "I'll wake up Charlotte," she said as she closed the door behind them and walked through the hallway toward the stairs that went up to the second floor.

"Into the kitchen," Alec lead the way into the kitchen, which was a very familiar place for the were's. Jace sat down at the head of the table, trying to keep his face from showing the pain he was feeling. He was more than used to getting slashed by claws when they were all training together, or breaking bones, but they all started healing straight away, and it was a pain that he could ignore. This was different, though, because it had been over half an hour and the gashes in his side were still deep and bleeding, the redness seeping through his shirt.

"You get blood on my floors and you'll be cleaning it up with a tooth brush," Charlotte Branwell grumbled as she came into the kitchen, her eyes widening as she saw Jace sitting. Usually when they came over here, he was standing, most of the time in the doorway, keeping his eyes on the exit. She looked down at his ruined shirt and she pursed her lips together. "Take the shirt off," she said, her voice becoming clipped as she noticed Isabelle as well. "Lydia, I need you to get the first aid kit and also my herb kit. Alec, go and get towels. The rest of you need to back away." The were's didn't look particularly happy about stepping away from their Alpha and the injured beta, but they obeyed the older woman.

"You need to get your own emissary," Lydia snapped at them before turning on her heel and leaving the kitchen.

"Always lovely to see her," Maia said wryly, crossing her arms over chest. Charlotte shot a glare over at Maia, and the dark skinned girl pressed her lips together to keep from saying anything else. Lydia came back a few moments later, Alec close behind her, both of them carrying the items that Charlotte had asked for. Despite Lydia's annoyed tone and sharp words, her eyes were concerned as she looked at the wounds on Jace's side.

"I can do Isabelle," Lydia murmured quietly as she motioned for Isabelle to sit on the table in front of her.

"Do what?" Isabelle narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Your wounds aren't healing," Lydia snipped. "You want me to stitch them up, or you want to slowly bleed out?" Isabelle was still glaring but she let Lydia thread a needle and begin to patch her together. Charlotte was murmuring something under her breath, pulling things out of the wooden box that she kept her herbs and potions in. Charlotte was a Spark, a practicer of magic, although she had purposefully let her talents fade over the years, choosing not to become too involved when it came to the supernatural. Sometimes it was hard to avoid, however, especially when the wolf pack in town didn't have an emissary to help them in times like this.

"Lydia is correct," Charlotte murmured as she touched the outside of Jace's wound, ignoring it when he hissed. "You need your own emissary. Someone within your pack who is connected to all of you, who is stronger than me and can heal and help you—"

"I know what an emissary is, Charlotte," Jace snapped, his temper fraying. "Right now, I just want you to do what you can so that we can go home and figure out what the fuck is going on." Charlotte tutted under her breath but didn't say anything else. The were's in the room were on edge, and both Alec and Max rushed forward once Lydia had finished stitching up Isabelle's neck. The wound wasn't much more than a deep scratch, but given it wasn't healing it had still been bleeding steadily, and there was blood staining the collar of her shirt and drying tackily on her skin.

"Did you recognize the Alpha?" Charlotte asked as she began to smear a mixture of strange smelling around the edges of the wound and then indicating for Lydia to thread a new needle. Lydia washed her hands, before handing Charlotte the fresh needle and her grandmother began to stitch Jace's wound. Jace gritted his teeth together as he felt the tug of her tightening the stitches, his three gashes taking longer than Isabelle's scratch.

"No," he answered Charlotte. "Didn't recognize either of their scents."

"There was a second person?" Charlotte asked.

"Threw a silver knife," Will stated, stepping forward and showing the bloody silver knife that he was carrying, wrapped in his jersey on the way over so that he didn't touch it. It looked unassuming enough, not too long, but the blade was long and sharp and the instant it was on display to all of the were's, they scented something that they had missed in the woods.

Wolfsbane.

It had been dipped in wolfsbane, making it even more lethal than just silver. No wonder it had stung more than usual.

"Well, they definitely intended to hurt you," Charlotte said primly.

"Did you notice that weird thing on his neck?" Jace asked, looking over at Isabelle and Maia.

"Yeah, that circle thing?" Isabelle scrunched up her nose before letting out a tired sigh and resting her head against Alec's shoulder. "It looked like some weird scar, right?"

"And it kind of glowed," Jace continued although Isabelle just shrugged and Maia didn't look like she knew what he was talking about. "It went kind of red at one point, it was weird." Jace looked down at Charlotte, who had stopped stitching and was now staring at him.

"You say it was a circle?" She asked, her voice suddenly a deeper tone and a wave of nervousness coming off her, every single werewolf in the room able to sense her unease.

"Charlotte?" The word was clipped as Lydia stepped forward, seeming to understand what was making her grandmother panic. "Are you thinking—"

"You need to call Clarissa," Charlotte replied shortly. "Call her and tell her that she needs to get out here." Lydia nodded, already leaving the room and Jace frowned down at the older woman, who was working on the third gash in his side.

"Who's Clarissa?" Alec asked gruffly, voicing the question that everyone was wondering.

"She's a Spark," Charlotte answered. "She's a whole lot stronger than me, and you're going to need her if this is who I think it is."

 _Okay! Let me know what you guys thought! Let me know if you liked it, if you didn't, what your favourite part was, etc etc._

 _Alright, now I've got so many song and movie recommendations given the gap in updating, so I'll limit it down. Movie wise,_ The Last Jedi _and_ The Greatest Showman _are both absolutely incredibly. Especially_ TGS _. Holy shit, the songs and the costumes and the dances, they were all amazing. I don't even know what my favourite songs from it is..._ This Is Me, Rewrite The Stars, Never Enough, From Now On _...I just don't know! And TV series recommendations would be_ The Gifted, Black Lightning _and_ The Runaways.

 _Songwise,_ I'm Gonna Show You Crazy _by Bebe Rexha,_ Him and I _by Halsey and G-Eazy,_ Missing You _by Blake McGrath,_ Never Enough _from The Greatest Showman,_ My My My _by Troye Sivan,_ Dynasty _by MIIA and_ Phases _by French Montana._

 _Let me know what your own recommendations are! I note down all your song, TV series and movies suggestions so I can get around to them when I have time!_

 _Make sure you check out my other updates and let me know if you want a preview of the next chapter xx_


	3. Chapter 3

_Next chapter, guys! I absolutely love this story, I think it might be my favourite one. Haha. Hope you guys enjoy the update :)_

Jace didn't like this at all.

Not only was there a Spark coming into his home that he had never met before, he was also injured and not in prime condition. That meant if something went wrong, he wouldn't be in the best position to defend himself and his pack. Not that he thought he wouldn't be able to take on the woman, she might be a Spark, but she was still breakable, although from the way that Charlotte spoke about her made him a little nervous. Charlotte wasn't a particularly powerful emissary, she hadn't practiced in a long time, but even being around her made Jace's senses prickle and his fangs tingle inside his gums. Now they were calling in a woman that was apparently so powerful that Charlotte sounded almost in awe of?

No, Jace didn't like this one bit.

He winced as he looked at his reflection in the mirror, peeling back the bandages to look at the gashes underneath which were definitely healing, but still deep and nasty looking. He didn't ever remember seeing his body looking like this, and he clenched his jaw, letting out a hiss through his teeth. The three, deep claw marks in his side were practically screaming out how weak he was and he covered them up again, pressing the tape of the bandage back against his skin.

Jace walked out of the bathroom and into the spare room where his home gym was. He had been awake for almost forty-eight hours, but this Spark was meant to be arriving in the next hour or so, and he wasn't going to meet this woman for the first time wounded and sleeping, so he was just going to push through. She was flying in, apparently had something that she had to finish up when Lydia had called her, but said she would be on a flight the next morning. The pack had been nervous, and had wanted to come back to his loft with him, but he had convinced them to go home, knowing they would go together at least in pairs.

His pack had been pretty adamant about staying in his apartment, surrounding him and also surrounding themselves with his scent. But after one night of all of them fawning over him and climbing into his bed, the were's all anxious about their hurt Alpha, he had kicked them out, telling them to come back the next morning.

Jace curled his arms up around the bar that was braced in his bedroom door frame and began pulling himself upward. He was several hundred pull ups in, ignoring the twinges of pain in his torso emanating from the gashes, when a strange smell infiltrated his senses. It was the sizzling smell of electricity, slightly bitter but not unpleasant, like the way the air smelt after a storm with pouring rain and bolts of lightening—fresh and sharp. He frowned, trying to place the smell, feeling like it was something that he had smelt before, and he let his feet fall back on the floor, lifting his nose and following the smell. But it wasn't until he heard movement in his kitchen that he realized that smell was actually _a person_.

"What the fuck—" Jace gasped out as he sped forward, appearing in the kitchen and seeing someone looking inside his fridge, apparently not caring _at all_ that they had just walked into his loft completely uninvited and invaded his space.

"You really need to do some shopping," the woman stated, the top half of her body still hidden from him behind the fridge door. She was wearing a pair of denim cut off shorts which showed off her tanned legs and then her feet were tucked into a pair of purple Chuck Taylor converses. "Seriously; do you just live on a diet of pepsi, ailoi and moldy capsicum? And pepsi?! What the hell—you're not even drinking coke?! You're drinking _pepsi_?! That's just nasty." Up until this point, Jace had been frozen in his spot, completely caught off guard by this person who didn't seem to care at all that she was intruding on an Alpha's territory. But he finally managed to get back in control of himself and he lashed forward, slamming his palm flat against the door of the fridge and slamming it shut, the woman skipping a few step backwards with a smirk, as though she had expected that reaction.

"What the fuck are you doing here? And who the fuck are you?" He demanded, letting his eyes glow red and he knew that his fangs were itching to drop from his gums, usual intimidation tactics when it came to someone not giving him the respect he deserved.

"Ooh, we're doing the whole eyes thing, are we?" The woman—actually, maybe more like a girl. She had to be younger than him, with her big, green eyes and red hair bouncing around her face, and there were a couple of freckles sprinkling over her nose. "I can do that to," she snarked back lightly and her eyes suddenly glowed a bright purple, making Jace jerk backwards, his claws pressing through his nail beds. "Look, I was told that you were expecting me? Char rang me?" Jace frowned at her and was about to open his mouth to respond when he heard someone quickly approaching, this person's scent and sound completely obvious, unlike the red head.

"Hello?" Came a man's voice, whoever it was actually pausing on the other side of his front door and knocking, like a normal visitor was supposed to do.

"Who's that?" Jace growled.

"That's Simon. He's kind of like my side kick," she grinned at him, walking past him, toward the front door. Their arms bumped together and there was something that felt like a spark of electricity between them, and Jace practically jumped backwards to get away from her. She didn't appear bothered at all as she opened the front door wide and grinned at the person on the other side. "What took you so long?"

"Well, not all of us have your super magic map thing in our heads," Simon Lewis replied with a roll of his eyes as he stepped past the woman and into the loft. Jace was shocked into silence again as Simon walked in in a similar way to the red head, as though he had a right to be there, although he wasn't quite as confident as her. He gave Jace a nervous half smile and pushed his glasses further up his nose, nearly tripping over his feet and almost sending the laptop in his arms flying across the floor.

"Okay," Jace let out a hiss through clenched teeth and then breathed in heavily through his nose. His hands were curled into fists at his sides as he tried to keep his temper under control, because if he sent either of these people flying through the windows on the other side of the room, that would cause a whole lot of unnecessary mess. "Are you the Spark that Charlotte Branwell called?"

"Wait, you just let yourself in without telling him who you are?" Simon frowned over at the girl. "That's rude." Jace might actually like this kid, but then Simon was shrugging and sitting down on the sofa, making himself comfortable and dragging the coffee table closer to him. So scratch that last thought, he wasn't going to end up liking Simon, because he had been in the loft all of one minute and was already reorganizing the furniture.

"I'm Clarissa," the girl finally decided it was time to introduce herself, walking over to where Jace was standing. "Clarissa Fray," she paused after she finished her name, looking at him with slightly narrowed eyes as though expecting something, but Jace didn't know what she was waiting for, so he just remained silent. She shrugged and continued. "Char said that you needed my help, and given she even said 'please' on the phone, we assumed that it was urgent and that's why we're here so quickly."

"Right," Jace gave a short nod of his head. Yes, so she was definitely a Spark, which he had pretty much assumed when she had flashed her purple eyes at him.

"You can call me Clary, though, since we're going to be working so closely together," she gave a quirk of her lips and Jace didn't miss the way her eyes traveled downward, over his toned torso and then met his eyes, grinning again. Jace couldn't help but scent the air, trying to pick up on any chemosignal that she might be giving out to try and get a read on her, but there was nothing. He could smell that sharp, fresh scent of lightning and citrus and something else that made his heart thump faster. "What's going on here?" She jabbed a finger at the bandage on his side. "Why aren't you healing?"

"It was another Alpha," Jace answered shortly.

"I was brought out here because you're having problems with another Alpha?" Clary didn't look at all impressed and glanced over at Simon. "How much did the plane tickets cost us, Si?"

"Five hundred," he answered. "It'll be about the same for the return flight."

"Book that flight back, see if we can get something out tonight, then I'll be able to make my date on Friday night," Clary told him and made a move to leave through the front door. The complete lack of interest caught Jace off guard, given how sure Charlotte had been that the Spark would want to be involved in this case. "Why the fuck did she even call us? She knows I can't be here," Clary grumbled as Simon tapped away on his laptop.

"She said that you knew who it was," Jace called out, suddenly feeling anxious at the idea of Clary leaving so quickly. He told himself it was because just the other day he had watched his pack being torn about without knowing what to do to protect themselves. It was because he needed to protect them, and Charlotte seemed to think that this girl was their best chance.

"I know a lot of people," Clary sung out in a frankly infuriating manner. "That doesn't narrow it down."

"Well, I don't really know anything more than that!" Jace snapped at her. Clary looked up at him, and then across at Simon, who wasn't paying any attention to the two, his fingers still tapping away on the keyboard. She seemed to be considering something, before she finally sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay, Si? Hold off on booking the tickets. We'll go and talk to Char and then we'll decide." Simon nodded and stopped looking on the flight website. "It better be a whole lot more exciting than just some Alpha you got into a sniffing match with." Jace felt his body prickling at the insult, but she just smiled sweetly at him. "You gonna put a shirt on, pretty boy? Or is that the way you walk around normally?" Jace glared at her before walking from the room, down to his bedroom. The pull ups he had been doing earlier had barely broken a sweat, so after putting on some deodorant and throwing on a short sleeve shirt from his drawer and pulled it on. When he came back out into the lounge, he couldn't stop his nose from curling in distaste at the different scents in the room.

Usually it just smelt like himself and his pack, no one else was ever allowed in his space.

Now, it smelt vaguely of blood from his wounds, whatever electric scent was running through Clary's veins and nervousness from the bespectacled boy on the couch.

"Come on," he grunted. "I'll drive."

 _Okay._

 _So, I had my movie/TV show/song recommendations all written up, but then Wednesday happened, and I kind of wanted to say something and it didn't seem right to put them in here along with this._

 _So...I'm going to start this with; I don't understand. I can't comprehend. I have absolutely no idea what the people and the families of those involved in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida are going through. I can't even imagine what...What they're feeling or how they're doing._

 _I just...I don't even know how to put what I personally feel into words, and then I think about how shit and selfish that is, because I'm halfway around the world, and yet there are people who were_ there _, people who were_ in that school _, and they've been incredibly brave by doing interviews or getting out there via social media about what they went through, and what_ needs to happen _. I watched an interview with one boy who put it well, "We are children. You guys are the adults. Work together, get over your politics and get something done."_

Yes _._

 _Where I live, the last time we had a mass shooting—which is defined where four or more people selected indiscriminately, not including the perpetrator, are killed—was in 1997. In my life time, there have only been three. From what I understand, there have been_ eight school shootings this year alone _in the US. I just—I can't even understand that._

 _I don't usually put things up about national/international events, but there were kids my baby brothers age...There were_ fourteen year olds who were killed _. How do we live in a world where someone can do that? I was absolutely bawling my eyes out when I was reading the updates and watching the videos that kids had posted and I just...I don't understand._

 _I just wanted to say I'm sorry._

 _To anyone who is directly or indirectly affected._

 _To anyone who lives in the US and this is a constant fear for you._

 _Because that's really all I can say xx_


	4. Chapter 4

_An update! About a week earlier than I planned, but I'm going away this weekend and then quite busy next week, so I thought I would update now! Also, part of the reason I'm busy next week is because it's my birthday! So here's an early birthday present from me to you xx_

"Clary!" Lydia let out a squeal when she opened the door, where Jace, Clary and Simon were standing on the front door step. "Oh my god!" Jace blinked as he saw the blonde wrap her arms around the red head. Jace screwed up his nose as he saw the two girls hugging tightly, and gave a side look toward Simon, who didn't look at all surprised by the interaction.

"Right, so you all know each other," he muttered. Lydia's expression shifted suddenly, shooting him a glare, before smiling widely at Simon.

"You're looking good, Si," she cooed as she let go of Clary and the Spark disappeared into the house. "You been bulking up?" Jace rolled his eyes as Lydia hugged the boy, leaving Jace standing there awkwardly.

"Yeah, well, you kind of have to start going to the gym and taking self defense classes when you're hanging around with Clary," Simon grinned. "Do you have any idea of how many times I've nearly died since being around her?" Lydia just laughed again and then the two of them were heading inside, and Jace followed after them, apparently forgotten. As they walked down the hallway, toward the lounge, Jace heard Charlotte exclaiming,

"Clarissa! Darling, it's been far too long!" When they rounded the corner into the lounge, Charlotte was actually _smiling_ , which was something he hadn't seen in the past six years that he had known her. Jace had no idea what was going on right now—it seemed like some big family reunion that he wasn't apart of—and was about to leave the room to wait outside for his pack to arrive when he smelt a sudden rush of magic, and a portal opened up beside him.

"Magnus!" Clary cried as the handsome Indonesian man stepped into the room with a wide smile on his face, wearing his signature smirk that was almost identical to the confident red heads expression. There was then _another_ round of hugs, and Jace's eyebrows lifted toward his hair line.

"Magnus," he noted, his voice clipped.

"Herondale," Magnus nodded shortly at him before looking back toward Simon, the pair of them starting to talk about some video game that Jace vaguely recognized from Max mentioning. Thankfully, in the distance, he could hear two cars approaching, one with the tell-tale rattle in the engine of Alec's vehicle, so Jace gathered the one close behind would be Maia's. He heard the cars park at the curb outside and let out a thankful sigh that he hoped no one noticed. "So what's the reason that you called—" he was cut off when the front door opened and Alec stepped through.

"Magnus?" Alec frowned, his jaw clenching as he saw the warlock.

"Alexander," Magnus cooed out and Clary looked over in interest as the rest of the pack stumbled through the front door. Jem was half asleep and tripped over Will's ankle, and Isabelle shoved at Max as she tried to get in past her little brother, and Maia pulled Jem's hair to try and wake him up. Clary's interest seemed to wane at the clumsy and immature antics and Jace rolled his eyes, not feeling quite as relieved as he did before that his pack had arrived.

"You invited _him_?" Alec scrunched up his nose as he jabbed a finger in Magnus' direction.

"He's with me," Clary piped up. "Making friends everywhere you go I see, Mags," she grinned.

"Something like that, biscuit," Magnus smirked.

"Right, okay," Clary glanced around the room, which was now full of the Herondale pack, Charlotte, Lydia, Magnus and Simon. Alec was still glaring at Magnus and Jem looked like he was falling asleep while leaning against the door frame, but the smile was now gone from Clary's face and she twisted on the arm of the couch to look directly at Charlotte. "So," she began. "Stick up his ass Alpha over here—" she jerked her thumb at Jace, who let his eyes glow red angrily. "—Said that his group of misfits here—" she waved her hand at the rest of the pack, who didn't look particularly happy at her new name for them. "—Except for you, doll, your jacket is amazing," she winked at Isabelle, who didn't look as pissed off as she did a moment ago. "—Said that they were attacked by an Alpha. _Please_ tell me that there's more to this story than just some rogue Alpha running around and stinking up some other were's territory." This time Jace couldn't help but let out a growl and Clary looked in his direction with a roll of her eyes, snapping her teeth at him.

"You know that I wouldn't have you cutting your time in Australia short for just an Alpha," Charlotte responded, the smile that had been on her face for the first time in history gone again as she looked over at the younger woman. "No, Jace here said that they saw a circle on the neck of the Alpha that attacked." The colour drained from Clary's face and she turned her eyes to look over at Jace. For a moment, Jace caught a whiff of her scent; fear and worry. But then, just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared once again.

He hated it.

This woman put him on edge, and given his injury and this strange 'circle' scar that seemed to be worrying the magical ones around him, he was already feeling nervous and didn't want anything more unusual. He hadn't even been able to sense Clary in his apartment until she was right in front of him, and as a werewolf with supernatural senses, he wasn't used to being caught off guard. And what made it even _worse_ was that Clary looked at him as though she could read everything on right on his face, which made him the one at a disadvantage.

"A circle?" Clary stated, her words coming out clipped. "Are you sure?"

"It's not as though we took a long moment to actually _study_ it," Will snapped.

"It looked like a scar, and it glowed sometimes," Isabelle added.

"Have you ever seen it before?" Clary asked, swinging her eyes between each of the pack members before resting them back on Jace, who was not bothering to hide the way he was glaring at her.

"Have I ever seen a guy with a burning circle on his neck?" Jace spat at her. "No, I don't believe so."

"Sarcastic prick," Clary snipped back, all joking and oozing confidence completely gone. He was pretty certain that she was scared, behind her facade of anger, and he tried not to let show how unnerved he was by the fact that he couldn't pick up on any of her emotions. "I'm trying to fucking help you here." Jace stalked forward at that comment, shoulders squared and eyes flashing red. He instantly could feel his pack at his back, snarling, their heckles raised at someone talking to their Alpha that way, especially with him already in his vulnerable position.

"We don't need you here," Jace hissed at her. "Storming in here and acting as though you own the place and are running the show. We can deal with a rogue Alpha, we've done it before. You're making this out to be so much bigger than it is, and I have no idea why. Trying to inflate you're ego? Act as though you're the only one who can figure this whole thing out?"

"You have no idea what you're up against!" Clary's temper flared and she was meeting him toe-to-toe, her eyes glowing a bright purple colour. Jace felt his pack's confusion, knowing that they couldn't sense her chemosignals and emotions either, and it was confusing them. The only smell coming off her was that sharp smell, like lightning, and it was getting stronger and stronger by the minute, the metallic scent filling the air.

"Oh, and so you're just going to waltz in and _educate us_ about what we're up against?!" Jace snapped at her. " _We can handle this_ ," he growled at her, standing directly in front of him, his eyes bright red, meeting the purple flashing orbs she was giving him. Clary locked her jaw, shaking her head from side to side before letting out a hard, extremely insincere laugh and storming past Jace, shouldering him with a surprising amount of force. His pack seemed to realize that she wasn't someone to be missed with because they all quickly stepped out of her way as she practically flew past. Jace had been so completely focused on Clary that he hadn't even realized that the lights were flickering and the glass in the window pane was shaking. A few moments after she left, the lights glowed normally again and the glass stopped vibrating.

"I'm...Just gonna go..." Simon got up from where he was sitting, not looking at all surprised by her reaction, pushing his glasses further up his nose before quickly walking out in the same direction that Clary had gone. Magnus was leaning against the wall, watching the whole interaction, his catlike eyes taking everything in, before he pushed off the wall and followed after the other two. On his way past Alec, he sent the werewolf a sultry expression and a smirk, making the werewolf narrow his eyes once more. Magnus just grinned and disappeared from the room.

"Right, so, that went well," Lydia muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes and walking over to the windows to make sure that there wasn't any lasting damage in the frame or the glass.

"You're going to need to fix that," Charlotte said bluntly.

"Like hell I do," Jace snapped.

"You do," Charlotte repeated. "This isn't something you can handle by yourself, despite how great you think your abilities are. You need her, and you need to make things better between yourself and her." The pack were still rattled, although they were covering their feelings well, but Jace could feel their nervousness. "Your wound," the older woman nodded to Jace's side. "Is it healed yet?" Jace pursed his lips together, breathing out heavily through his nose. "I thought not."

"It's because it was another Alpha who inflicted it—that's _normal_ ," Jace growled.

"It's been a couple of days, it should look a hell of a lot better. Let's have a look then," Charlotte raised her eyebrows, getting up from where she was seated and waving a hand at Jace's side. He felt the eyes of his pack turn to him, waiting for him to lift his shirt and show that the wound was almost completely healed. But Jace couldn't do that, because the truth was, it was nowhere near close to being healed. "Right. So, you need to make it right with that girl, because she knows far more about this than I do, and you need her help." Alec licked his lips and looked to Jace.

"It's not healed yet?" He asked quietly. Jace squared his jaw, blinking slowly before shaking his head once.

"You need to fix that," Charlotte repeated once last time before looking at the door pointedly behind the pack of werewolves. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

 _Songwise; I've become completely addicted to Julia Michaels and Camila Cabello. Recent favourites of Julia Michaels are_ Uh-Huh _and_ Worst In Me _, and for Camila Cabello,_ All These Years, Consequences _and_ Somethings Gotta Give _. Especially_ All These Years _! Also there's_ Homeostasis _by Nostalghia, which is an older one. Ooh, and_ White Flag _by Bishop Briggs, which is absolutely amazing, and was sent through by_ Jling _._

 _I'm also still coming down from my Halsey concert high ;) So anything by her is recommended!_

 _So a couple of movies that I've seen over the past month are_ Ready Player One, Love, Simon, Pacific Rim: Uprising, Red Sparrow _and_ Avengers: Infinity War _._ Pacific Rim _was the typical monster versus robot shit, but no one said it was going to be a masterpiece! Haha. It was good for what it was, a depressing lack of Charlie Hunnam though._ Ready Player One _was a lot better than I though it would be, although my hubby and his friends enjoyed it a lot more than I did, given they got a lot more of the references._ Love, Simon _was beautiful and I recommend to all._ Red Sparrow _was okay, a bit long, and because I'm not the biggest fan of Jennifer Lawrence, that was already a bit of a turn off for me._

 _Now._

Avengers: Infinity War.

 _Holy shit._

 _Amazing._

 _Bucky saying 'Steve'? Okoye's side eye! M'Bakku being strong and beautiful! Steve's introduction to Groot? LOKI?! Spidey and Iron Man's last scene? Shuri's little moment? Wanda and Vision! Steve's BEARD?! Daddy AF. Pretty much everything Drax related. Thor's entry into earth?! Bucky and Rocket's interaction?! Probably a hundred thousand more things that I just don't have time to mention! I've already fangirled hard with_ Allieanna _, we're both pretty heartbroken. If you want to fangirl with me, send me a message, I am_ completely _down for that._

 _Let me know what songs you're listening to, if you've seen any of these movies, what you liked about the chapter or what you didn't like and what you think is going to happen next—leave a review, they keep me going :) Let me know if you want a preview as well xx_


	5. Chapter 5

_Happy Pride Month, beautiful people!_

Robert and Maryse Lightwood had been parental figures in Jace's life for as long as he could remember. His parents had died when he was young, killed on a mission that they had been doing for the Clave. There were hardly any photos from when he was young, a couple of himself when he was a baby, some of his parents together before he was born, and only two of them together with him as an infant. The Lightwoods were his family, they took him in after his his parents passed away and treated him like one of his own. Even after he had presented as an Alpha, which could create problems in a family where one of the parents wasn't the one passing on the Alpha spark, they didn't try to send him away, to grow up with the Clave or in one of their Institutes.

So now, when he was confused and unsure of his next step, that was who he turned to. His pack wanted to come back to his loft, still feeling off kilter since the Spark's reaction to the news of the man with the circle on his neck. But he needed some time to think. So he sent them off, knowing that they would all stick together, probably all going back to Helen and Aline's place, telling them that he would meet up with them shortly.

Jace got back to his loft early morning, Charlotte not happy with a pack of werewolves invading her house, as per usual. Before Jace had walked out the door, the older woman had stopped Jace, asking to see the wound at his side. The rest of the pack had been walking in front of them, toward their cars, except for Alec, who was hanging back to wait for his Alpha. They would be able to hear exactly what was being said, but they were far enough to be able to see the wound if he blocked their view. Jace had paused, not sure if he should show Charlotte, but from the stubborn set of her jaw, he knew that he didn't have much of a choice. He had pulled up his shirt, subtly turning to the side so that Alec didn't see that the slash hadn't healed yet.

He had been right when he had said it was normal for an Alpha's wound to take longer to heal than usual. If it had been one of his beta's who had drove their claws into his side, then it would be healed within hours. If it had been any other werewolf, other than an Alpha, or pretty much any other injury, it would be healed usually within half a day, a full day at the most. An Alpha's wound could apparently take up to two days to heal, that was just common knowledge.

But those two days had past, and it should at least be honestly healed, but the skin was still trying to stitch itself back together.

It wasn't normal.

Charlotte had tsked under her breath, telling him to ensure that he was keeping the wound clean and then reminding him that he needed to mend things between himself and the hothead Spark.

Alec had questions and definite concerns, but he kept quiet as they went outside. He got into his car, where his siblings and Will were waiting for him, and drove away without a look back. He trusted Jace and he knew that when Jace was ready to open up to him, the Alpha would come to then.

"Maryse?" Jace murmured into the phone as the ringing stopped and there was a click to signal that someone had picked up.

"Jace—sweetie, how are you?" Maryse Lightwood asked, her words clipped. Despite the fact that she always looked and sounded uptight, for the people that knew her best, they could hear the warmth that was hidden just beneath the surface.

"I'm...Fine," Jace didn't want her to panic, given she was like a mother to him. But the hesitation had been enough, and he heard the way her breathing changed over the phone.

"Hold on a second," she muttered and her voice shifted, as though she had pulled the phone away from her ear. "Rob! Robert!" She called out, still holding the phone away from her face. The pair of them mustn't be on a mission at the moment if they were both there and so easily accessible to talk. He could heard footsteps getting closer, and then the familar, low voice of Robert came through the speaker phone as well, a little tinny, so Maryse must have changed to speaker phone.

"Jace, is something wrong?" Robert asked, getting straight to the point.

"Uh..." Jace pursed his lips, looking toward his front door with his eyebrows pulled together as though he was worried Clary was going to come traipsing back through without him getting a single warning of her intrusion. "There's a rogue Alpha in town," he stated, deciding to just get it over with, without bothering to make any small talk.

"Okay..." Maryse didn't sound as though she understood. "Annoying and maybe cause for a little alarm, but not anything that you can't handle. You've got a whole pack behind you, whereas this is a single Alpha."

"Well, not exactly a single Alpha. Had someone with him, maybe a human, because I wasn't getting any scent of a werewolf off him. But..." Jace broke off, pursing his lips together as he turned back to face the windows that covered almost the complete back wall. "There was just something about them that was different. The werewolf caught me in the side, and it's barely started healing. The stab wound from the other one is gone, stung like a bitch from the wolfsbane, but the slashes form the Alpha hasn't yet." He thought about mentioning the weird scar on his neck, but for some reason decided against it.

"Have you spoken with Charlotte?" Robert asked. "You really need to get an emissary," he added almost as an afterthought and Jace rolled his eyes at the sentiment that he had heard a hundred times before. "A Spark or warlock for your own pack."

"Yeah, I know," Jace mumbled, not wanting to get into that conversation for the umpteenth time. "Charlotte called in someone—Clary." There was silence for a moment, at least silence from anyone speaking, Jace heard both of Lightwoods heartbeats pick up on the other end of the phone, as though they were worried or nervous.

"Clarissa?" Maryse asked, her voice sounding strained. "Clarissa Fray?"

"Uh, yeah, I think that was her last name," Jace answered. "Why—do you know her?"

"Only by reputation," Maryse answered, although there was something in the way that she phrased it that sounded as though she was being careful about what she said. She wasn't lying though, Jace could hear the truth in the way her heart was beating. "I knew her mother."

"We both did," Robert added.

"There's something about her, I just get this weird feeling off her," Jace told them honestly. "I can't get a proper read on her, can barely get anything off her—there's no chemosignals, there's no scents, it's like she's completely shielded herself off from anyone picking up on her emotions." To humans, not being able to tell when someone was lying or telling the truth, or being able to tell if they were happy, sad, angry—it wasn't uncommon. But for werewolves, the scents and chemosignals were what guided them, and it was something that they were used to, that they relied on.

"Trust your instincts, Jace," Maryse stated. "You know that you should always trust your instincts. You have a right to be suspicious or weary of anyone who shows up that you don't know." Jace frowned, once more, at the way Maryse was phrasing her sentences.

"But?" He prompted, guessing that there was something more.

"But she will be invaluable to whatever it is that you're having difficulties with," Robert concluded. "She's a powerful Spark, takes after her mother. I understand that she's also a bit—a bit difficult, at times, just like her mother, but she will be a powerful asset if she's on your side." Jace had already gathered that she was powerful, based on the fact that Charlotte had called her in, but he was surprised that Robert and Maryse had even heard about Clary, given how many Sparks there were out there. Sure, the Clave definitely kept an eye on the more dangerous ones, but names were all record, there were far too many to try and memorize the names of.

"Yeah," Jace bit down on the tip of his tongue as he shrugged his shoulders. "Anyway, I just wanted to keep you guys in the loop."

"Thank you for your call, Jace," Maryse said. "And make sure you call if you have any other problems."

"If you see my kids, tell them that I'm expecting a call on my birthday next week," Robert piped up, his teasing tone lightning the mood of the conversation.

"Yeah, I will," Jace replied. "Thank you." They said their farewells and Jace ended the call. He needed to get some rest, but even as he walked down to his bedroom, his mind kept going back to the Spark. He didn't understand how she had such a reputation, for someone so young. Sure, maybe she just _looked_ young, and she could actually be several hundreds—maybe even thousands of years old—but it didn't feel like that. Plus, the kid that she was with—Simon—he was definitely young, and he didn't seem to have any special powers, and it would be strange for someone who was so old to hang around with someone so young.

And yet Charlotte said that she was more powerful than herself?

More powerful than any other warlock that she knew?

Magnus was more powerful than any other warlock _Jace_ knew, he knew that Magnus was widely known and revered. But that meant that Clary was more powerful than Magnus.

Although, Charlotte had identified Clary as a Spark, the same as herself, while Magnus was a warlock. Jace had never understood the difference between the two, he had never really had someone he could ask. Charlotte wasn't exactly the most talkative, and while Magnus would probably be more than happy to chatter away to him, it was _Jace_ that didn't want to talk to him.

Jace still didn't think that they needed this girls help with whatever it was they were facing, but the look of worry on her face had made him worried. And the way that Charlotte had reacted when she found out about the burning circle...The same as Clary...

He didn't know what it was, but clearly there was something more to this rogue Alpha than he knew, so he would need to find some way to contact Clary in the morning, try to smooth things over.

Jace growled under his breath as he finally collapsed on his bed, falling asleep for the first time in what felt like months.

 _So! My song recommendations this time are_ Help Me Close My Eyes _by Those Dancing Days,_ Burn So Bright _by Bella Thorne and_ Broken Prayers _by Riley Clemmons. Ooh—and_ I Wanna Know _by Bea Miller. Shit, I love most things by Bea, she's bloody amazing, and I've had this song on repeat, for like the past two months. Haha. Oh, and_ Go Dark _by Cassie Steele! It took me a while to get into this one, but I adore it now. Ooh ooh! And_ Lie _by Halsey featuring Quavo. Fucking looove it. Although let's face it, I love everything by her. Omg! And also_ What I Need _by Hayley Kiyoko featuring Kehlani. I've only recently gotten into Kehlani, since I saw her open for Halsey, but I adore Hayley, and I'm so glad she's becoming more popular. This video has just come out and its amaaazing._

 _In other news...The second season of_ Queer Eye _is almost out! Whoop whoop! I bloody love them all, and I cried in every single episode of the first season. Antoni is just bloody beautiful, and Tan and Karamo...Omfg. Gorgeous. And then Bobby is so talented and Jonathan is amazing. Haha. I recommend to all! Also, has everyone seen the new_ Robin Hood _trailer? I love Taron Egerton, can't wait for the movie!_

 _I've starting dabbling in oneshots again. I generally post them all at one time, when I've got chance to come back and edit them all properly, but I'm taking requests if you want to see them through. Doesn't have to specifically be this fandom, go onto my profile and check out other fandoms I'm in or send me a message. Send through songs or ideas and I can try to make them work!_

 _Lastly, I keep meaning to pimp out the amaaazing reppinda5o3, who I absolutely adore. First of all she's got this amazing trilogy that is currently on it's second installment, first one called_ Send My Love (To Your New Lover) _and the second is called_ Hello _. Then there's her latest story and I've fallen in love and we're just one chapter deep,_ Set Fire To The Rain _. And then her baby,_ Clarissa Is A Punk _, which is an angsty ride, but I trust her to get us there in the end! Go and check them out and show her some love. She's ridiculously busy, but she still finds time to write, and her detail and care in her writing is insane, and also listen to me with my one million ideas and was also one of the people to keep me sane when I was house bound for a few months. Including keeping my company literally as I'm typing this because I'm home sick. So go. Go, go, go, go, go!_

 _Send me your recommendations, send me your thoughts on the story, send me anything and I will reply when I can! Let me know if you want a preview xxx_


	6. Chapter 6

_Hey guys._

 _Okay. So..._

 _This is a bit weird, but I thought I should probably post something._

 _I've had a few messages from people, and I've replied to a couple of them, but I guess it would be more fair to post this for everyone to see._

 _I'm just taking a bit of a break from here. I've got a lot going on at the moment; my heads a bit of a mess, my relationship needs work, my job is going through a a lot of changes which is stressful and honestly I'm just not doing too great. Usually writing is my outlet but I've been really stumped lately. I've managed to write a few oneshots but I'm just not happy with them and I just_ can't _write. I open up word documents like every night and just can't get anything out, and when I finally do, I'm not happy with what I do. Over the past six weeks or so I've gotten some shitty reviews which are always from anon's because why would they log in to leave feedback and have a conversation about it? I delete them because I'm one of those people who just re-read and re-read them and obsess over them and it just isn't a great time! So maybe that's got something to do with how..._ Not _like writing I feel._

 _I'm posting this on all of my stories, even the ones I don't update regularly, because I'm not sure how long it'll be before I update. I'm going to try get around to all the reviews I haven't replied to and the messages that are piled up in my inbox, and I_ _hope I'll snap out of my funk soon and then it'll be back to normal :)_

 _I love you guys, 99% of you are absolutely amazing and you're so supportive and patient with me, and I want to say thank you for that x_


	7. Chapter 7

_Hey, beautiful people!_

 _I'm back! You guys have all been beautiful and I appreciate all of your kind words. I'm feeling a lot better, although, as anyone suffering from anxiety, depression and any other lovely mental health issues, I'm taking one day at a time. Still feeling a little...Iffy, but hey. That's life._

 _We're coming up to the end of the year and I always take a couple of months off over Christmas/New Years. So what I'm going to do is update all my stories at the beginning of each month until I go on a break over December/January and then I'll go back to a regular schedule with two monthly updates._

 _Also, a few of you guys tried to help out and suggested maybe if I didn't write so many stories, I wouldn't get overwhelmed. I absolutely love that you guys are trying to help, but the amount of stories isn't the problem. My problems are outside of this little fandom world I try to bury myself in, and the thing that was making it difficult for me to enjoy posting and updating and interacting with you guys was because of a few nasty reviews that just really hit when I was feeling pretty damn shit. So, thank you! But it's okay, I manage sharing out my time on each story well, since I get inspired for different stories all the time and bounce all over the place!_

 _Anyway, on with the story..._

Jace slept heavily that night, with his doors and windows all bolted shut so that he could at least pretend that no one could get in, even though he knew that Clary could just walk right in if she so wanted. He did hear someone come in partway through the night, and he was awake straight away, poised to get out of bed as he waited, listening, to see if who it was who had entered the apartment was a threat.

But then he had soft footsteps, and the scent of pack washed over him, and a moment later, Isabelle and Jem were creeping into his bed. He heard more movement, but from the scents that were coming down, and the comforting heart beats he could hear through the walls, he knew that it was a couple of other of his pack members, making themselves comfortable in his lounge.

He should have known that they would show up.

He had only _just_ managed to get them to leave the night before, so that he could clear his head before Clary had shown up; so of course they were going to come back tonight.

Jace slept better with them there, and when he woke up in the morning, Helen had also crawled into bed with them, curling up along the bottom of the bed, by their feet, with one of Jace's spare blankets thrown over her, and Max had curled up on the floor with a bunch of pillows that he must have brought in from the lounge. Jace smiled, Jem snoring slightly and Isabelle taking up far more of the bed than her small figure _should_ allow, but then that was Isabelle, always making her presence known. When Isabelle rolled over, making a mumbling noise at the back of her throat, the smile on his face disappeared, seeing the slashes on her neck that she had received from the Alpha.

They had been deep—not as deep as the attack that he had been delivered to his side—but still deep, especially since they weren't healing as quickly as they were used to.

Seeing the wounds on his beta's neck made the hair on the back of his neck bristle, and his wolf twist angrily inside of him. He wanted to rip apart anyone who hurt his back, but most of the time he was able to curb that rage. However with the wounds so obvious on Isabelle's neck, reminding him that someone had attacked his pack—someone that he hadn't be able to stop—was just making him furious all over again.

Jace reached out and laid his hand on the curve of Isabelle's shoulder, where it met her neck, and his fingertips tingled as he made sure that she wasn't feeling any pain. His veins turned dark as he absorbed the remaining pain from her, sighing as he realized that the pain was still there. His own injury ached dully, only really protesting when he moved and stretched it, but he was an Alpha, he had certain powers that they didn't, and pushing away his pain—dealing with it—was a big part of that.

Jace got out of bed slowly, not wanting to disrupt his pack members that were in bed. They shifted a little, and although their subconscious would have heard him get up, given it was his scent in the room and no one they didn't recognize, the were's didn't wake up. As he walked down the hallway toward his lounge. His nose crinkled at the slight electric smell that was still hanging around, left behind by Clary when she had broken into his loft, and it made the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stick up. It was strange that it wasn't an actual scent of her, of her body, just the scent of her magic that was still crackling in the air. He was hoping that the smell would disappear soon, smothered by the scent of his pack.

It was getting closer to nine in the morning, and Jace should really be waking up his pack, because it was a week day, and they had jobs, but with everything that had been going on in the past few days, Jace didn't have the heart. If they had issues with any of their employer's, they could come up with some excuse about some family drama. Most of their bosses were good people anyway, and they had good relationships with them—Jem, Alec and Max's employer was even a supernatural creature, a faerie with a low level affinity toward iron, and so he was aware of the men being werewolves.

He opened up his fridge, and was glad when he saw that it was stacked up. He wasn't sure when this had happened, given it had been pretty much empty just the day before, but it wasn't unusual for the pack to buy food and stock his fridge, given how often they all ate over here, despite having their own homes. Jace pulled out a carton of eggs and a loaf of bread, knowing that his pack would all start coming into the room when they smelt food cooking. He was just starting to fry the first couple of eggs when he heard two sets of feet approaching. He didn't panic, however, because he could already pick up their scent from inside the house and hear the familiar beat of their hearts. Alec and Will.

"Of course you show up just as food is getting ready," Jace muttered, knowing that the two of them could hear him through the thick metal door of the loft. Will had a smirk on his face when they opened the door, but Alec's face was pinched, pretty much as per usual.

"Maia is going to be here soon as well, she's bringing Aline—they're just dropping off Jordan at work," Will said as he climbed up onto the bar stool on the other side of the counter, picking up an apple from the fruit bowl. Jace hadn't actually realized that the fruit bowl was filled either, clearly filled at the same time that the fridge and cupboards were.

"I'm guessing you guys are playing hooky, then?" Jace raised an eyebrow at the two men.

"We called in, said we would be late," Alec shrugged, not too bothered. Money wasn't too big of a deal for them. Jace's parents had been high up members of the Clave, and there was a lot of money left to him. They also got payments from the Clave—the council looked after their werewolves. "Thought that we'd stop by here first, make sure everything was okay." The underlying statement was actually that he wanted to make sure Jace was okay, but he knew better than to actually say that.

"You lot get started on breakfast," Jace said as he started back down the hall toward the bathroom. "The rest will wake up the minute they smell food." Which was true.

If there was one thing that always got his pack stumbling out of bed; it was food.

Jace turned on the shower, shutting the door to undress even though there wasn't much point, because if any of his pack wanted to come into the bathroom, a simple thing like a door wouldn't stop them. Things like privacy went out the window when it came to pack, and growing up as a werewolf meant Jace had absolutely no qualms about nudity, given often their clothes would get ripped and stripped off their bodies as they ran through the woods on a full moon.

He could hear Alec and Will starting on breakfast, not trying to be quiet at all, and a small, rare smile pricked at his lips as he heard a groan of annoyance from his bedroom. It was probably Isabelle, even though she would be singing the boys praises when she realized that they were making noise because they were making breakfast. He showered quickly, scrubbing himself over with the wild lime and tangelo body scrub that the girls insisted he keep there, given how often they showered at his place. His movements seemed to get even more rougher as he washed around his torso, stubbornly ignoring the sting that came from from rubbing over the gashes on his side.

Jace turned off the shower, and he could hear movement in the lounge and dining room area, so he knew that the rest of his pack had managed to drag themselves out of bed. He wrapped a towel loosely around his waist as he walked down to his bedroom. He dressed, into a pair of sweatpants and a loose shirt before joining the rest of his pack in the dining room.

"This bacon is fucking good," Isabelle picked up a piece of the streaky bacon, tipping back her head and holding it above her mouth, chewing it quickly. Jace just rolled his eyes, noting that Maia and Aline had arrived and were making themselves comfortable on the couch. Alec was moving quickly in the kitchen, flipping out streaking bacon and fried eggs, and Will was manning the deep fryer, putting in one lot of hash browns after the other. He walked over to sit down at his table, crossing his arms over his chest as he listened in on the conversations around him.

Maia and Aline were discussing their partners, apparently Jordan Kyle was still leaving his washing on the ground rather than putting it in the washing basket, and Helen was on some juice cleanse, and so there was barely any _real_ food in their fridge. Jem was obsessed with some cupcake game that he had downloaded on his phone two weeks ago and his fingers were moving rapidly over the screen, collecting them or decorating them, or whatever it was that he did. Max was in the kitchen, annoying his brother and Will, trying to grab bacon and complaining that Isabelle had gotten a piece, why couldn't he? Isabelle was just watching in amusement, sticking her tongue out as her youngest brother grumbled under his breath and looked over at her, antagonizing him further.

It was very domestic, and Jace was always happy when they could have downtime, to just act like a normal family.

"Foods up!" Will announced as he carried two of the piled high dishes over to table. "Grab plates, knives and forks, Max," he called over his shoulder. As Alec came out from the kitchen, around the breakfast bar where Isabelle was sitting, Jace saw the beta's eyes narrow as he caught a glimpse of his sisters wound. He was carrying over the last dish, this one with fried eggs on it, and he stopped by the head of the table, where Jace was sitting.

"Charlotte seemed pretty set on the fact that we need Clary's help with whoever it is that did this," Alec stated under his breath. "You need to go and talk to her." Jace twisted his mouth, not particularly liking the idea of seeking out the Spark.

"And you think that we need to talk to Magnus as well? You ready for that?" Jace lifted his eyebrow and Alec glowered at the mention of the warlock.

"If it means finding out who did that to my sister and my pack, then yes. Bring the warlock in as well," Alec didn't look particularly happy at the idea of Magnus coming back into their lives, but Jace knew that he would push that behind him to find out what was going and who it was that attacked them.

"Okay," Jace took in a deep breath. "I'll speak to her."

 _Okay! I have so many recommendations, so I apologize in advance for how long this is going to be._

 _Songs!_ Back To You _by Selena Gomez. Holy shit. Words can't even express how much I love this song. Like...My heart, every time...Shit. Yes. And all the fandom videos to this song on Youtube, I'm just loving all of them, they're just incredible. Then there's_ Somethin' We Shouldn't Do _by Chad Brownlee,_ Bad Company _by Five Finger Death Punch,_ Higher _by The Score,_ Panic Attacks _by Elohim and then_ I Said Hi, Mess Her Up _and_ Middle of the Night _by Amy Shark. I've become completely obsessed with Amy Shark. Haha. Then there's also_ Sober _by Demi Lovato...Which does all sorts of different things to my heart now, than Back To You. After her recent relapse, I get a little teary when listening to it..._

 _So movie/TV series wise..._ Alex Strangelove _\- It's quirky and awkward and fucking hilarious and it made me so happy. All of the characters are just so beautiful and well-written and realistic. It's a bit weird, I absolutely cringed a few times and definitely has some areas it could improve on, but if I'm being totally honest...I think it may actually be in like my top twenty movies. It just made me feel so good. My hubby loved it as well. And then there's_ Jane The Virgin _, which we're slowly getting through. My husband is firmly Team Raphael while I'm firmly Team Michael...Now that he's back, I have high hopes. LOL. Also I've recently gotten into_ Reign _, and I'm in love._

 _Also, is anyone else watching_ Who Is America _? Holy shit. It makes me cringe to the point where I hide my face in a pillow, but it's hilarious and chilling and I recommend to all._

 _Anyway, let me know if you guys have any recommendations. Leave a review, let me know what you think, because your reviews mean so much to me xx_


	8. Chapter 8

_Hey, beautiful people! Here's the next chapter! Just a reminder I have two other werewolf fics going at the moment,_ Ache For Us _and_ Running Among Wolves _, so go and check those out as well._ _Also_ — _I've got Pink's concert next weekend! She's going to be fucking amazing!_

There wasn't the best history between Magnus and the Herondale pack. He wasn't an emissary, he didn't become a part of _any_ pack, and that was by choice.

A lot of supernatural creatures sought out each other, wanting to form ties in the community, finding safety and home with each other. While not all werewolf packs had an emissary—a warlock or a Spark who helped to heal and look after the pack—many of them did. It was a better idea for a pack to have an emissary, given that the longer the emissary was with the werewolves, the better they could heal them and the stronger their connection to them were. They could help strengthen the bonds between the were's, help heal them, and draw power from each other. That was why Jace, as an Alpha, kept being told by others that it would be a good idea for him to find an emissary.

For a short period of time, when they had been having some difficulties with a nest of harpies, it seemed as though Magnus might be a good fit as their emissary. He got on well with everyone and he was powerful. He got on maybe a little _too_ well with Alec, given the pair of them only took three days before they ended up in bed together—the self satisfied smirks on their faces the next day was enough to tell the pack everything that they needed to know. Things felt good, but after a month—once the harpies were dealt with—Magnus wrote a note, left it behind for Alec to find when he woke up in the morning, and then disappeared.

It turned that he really wasn't the fit for them.

He was a warlock for hire—which wasn't something to sneer at, people did it, they needed to make a living. There were warlocks who would play intimidation games and some even went further to be guns for hire. There were witches who sold their spells, vampires who sucked blood which gave the other person temporary euphoria, the list went on and on. Hell, Charlotte had blatantly said that Clary worked for a fee—Clary had been upfront about it as well, and that was at least one thing that Jace appreciated.

But Magnus hadn't charged them for his help, he had been willing to help them, _he had climbed in bed with Alec,_ and then just a few weeks later, they found out that he was helping out a pack that Jace had had a lot of problems with in the past. It was the fact that he hadn't been upfront with them that had caused a rift between him and their pack, especially with Alec.

The next day, Jace went to find Clary.

He didn't have a phone number for her or Simon, and he had no idea where she was staying, and he really didn't feel like going to Charlotte and Lydia's place—there would be all sorts of judgy looks if he went there, and he had deleted Magnus' number a long time ago. It might have been easier if he actually had Clary's scent, but even then, he would have to go all over town looking for the Spark. For some reason, he was drawn to a bar in the middle of town, and when he opened the front door, he was hit with that sharp smell of electricity and he spotted the red head at the end of the bar, tucked around the corner with a drink in her hand.

He thought about making some snarky remark about drinking so early, but when he looked up at the clock on the wall, he saw that it was just after midday, so maybe it wasn't _quite_ as early as he thought it was. Jace took in a deep breath, shoving his hands into the back pockets of his jeans as he approached her. She didn't move or flinch as he approached, but he _knew_ that she knew he was there.

"Afternoon," Jace said through gritted teeth as he got up on the bar stool next to Clary. He took in another deep breath, directly through his nose this time, hoping to catch _something_ off her, but just as he unfortunately expected, there was nothing. When she shifted and pulled her bag over from where it was resting on the counter, he got a strong whiff of Magnus. Her hair was a little disheveled and the jacket that she was wearing was clearly male, and wondered idly if they were sleeping together, since he knew Magnus swung both ways. But it was none of his business, and definitely not the reason that he was looking for her today. "I came to...Talk to you."

"To apologize?" Clary lifted an eyebrow as she sipped at the scotch from her glass. Jace watched as she swallowed, and she kept her face forward, not looking toward him, not making it easier on him.

"I spoke with Robert and Maryse Lightwood," Jace continued, pointedly not answering her question. "They're friends of mine—pretty much my parents—" Clary lifted her eyebrow again, and put her glass down on the wooden counter top. "—And they said that they knew your mother." He hoped that Clary would say something at that point, but she didn't. "And they said to trust you, so here I am."

"Should I be thanking you at this point?" Clary smirked, finally looking over at him, although the smile didn't quite meet her eyes. There was a flat, detached look in them, as though she was being careful with what she said and how much she gave away. Jace rolled his eyes. "For deciding to trust me? Coz I don't really think that's the way it works, especially since _you_ hired _me_."

"Look, the first thing that I want to get out of the way, is payment," Jace stated.

"I usually charge by the day, but since you're... _Friends_ with Charlotte, Lydia and Magnus, maybe I can cut you a deal," Clary stated, and with the way that she put an emphasis on 'friends', Jace was guessing that she knew that wasn't the right word to describe his relationship with them. "Obviously, you need to cover any expenses that Si or I have along the way, but we can work out the fee at the end."

"Alright," Jace wasn't too sure if he liked the idea of not knowing how much he was in for, but it wasn't as though money was a problem for him.

"So you want to tell me exactly what you saw?" Clary pushed the drink away from her and turned the bar stool around so that she was facing Jace fully.

"Wasn't anything special," Jace glanced around them, lowering his voice even though there was barely anyone else in the bar. He couldn't smell any supernaturals either, although some knew how to conceal their scent, especially faeries. "I could smell a werewolf—an Alpha. We had been tracking it, and Aline—"

"The banshee," Clary interjected, to clarify, and she matched his low volume, keeping the conversation limited to the pair of them.

"Yes, that's her—and we ended up in the forest. We split up to cover more ground, and it attacked Isabelle."

"Her neck," Clary murmured, and Jace nodded.

"Maia and Izzy, they said that he didn't smell right, that there was something off about him," Jace shrugged. "He caught me by surprise—I didn't pick up his scent until he was right on top of me, like he was masking it. We fought and I had him pinned down. Someone else appeared—it wasn't a werewolf, I think maybe he was human. And then this scar on his neck, it started glowing bright red." Clary frowned and she squared her jaw, pursing her lips together. "The second person jumped at me, drove a dagger that was covered in wolfsbane into my neck. That distracted me, and I was knocked unconscious for a couple of minutes—the Alpha clawed at me," he waved a hand idly at his side. "When I came to, they were gone, and that was when we went back to Charlotte and Lydia's."

Clary still wasn't speaking, but he could tell that she was listening closely to what he was saying. Jace stared at her, waiting for some reaction— _hoping_ to catch some chemosignal from her, giving him some hint as to what she was thinking.

But there was nothing, and after picking up her tumbler to finish off the remaining scotch, she slid off the bar stool, and Jace couldn't help but be disappointed as she picked up her bag, making her intention to leave clear. Her face was stern, and she looked almost worried, even though her her general personality seemed to say that she was confident and unbothered by what happened around her.

"I accept your apology," she told him, and when she looked up, there was a smirk on her face again, although it still wasn't reflected in her eyes. Jace was about to protest, say that he had never apologized, but then she reached out and slid her hand underneath his shirt. Jace, once again, was about to protest, but her hand was warm against his skin, and there was a prickle from her fingertips, stretching out over his injuries. It felt like tiny pricks of electricity, and although it was an unusual feeling, it wasn't a bad one. He twitched in his seat, his spine ramrod straight. "So, just sit back, big Alpha man, and I'll sort this out." That finally triggered Jace because he jerked away from her and glared.

"I'm not just going to sit to the side and watch you try to save the day," he snapped at her. Clary just lifted her eyebrow at him, that frustrating smirk still on her face. Jace honestly had no idea what else he was meant to say to her, and it seemed as though she already knew that, because her smile widened. There was a spark in her eyes, that purple flash that Jace was still caught off guard by, and then she practically skipped past him.

Jace's eyes followed after her, as she left through the front door of the bar, and then he took in a deep breath as he looked back at top of the bar.

He had no idea what Clary's end game was.

He had no idea what she was after.

And he _fucking hated it_.

Jace pursed his lips together and got off the bar stool, carefully not stretching his side in an attempt not to hurt the gashes that were still healing, and then he was surprised when there was no pain at all.

He jerked up his shirt to look at his side, and the wound was completely gone.

 _Now, my first thing is a Youtube video. It's only a couple of minutes, but it is absolutely fucking beautiful, my heart just...Shit. Anyway. Watch it. It's called_ Homophobia In 2018 | Time For Love _on the channel BBC Social. Please watch it. It's just a few minutes, just a tiny bit of your day, but it's just incredible._

 _Okay! So I have so many songs! Okay, so_ Afterlife _by XYLO. And then_ 1950 _and_ Talia _by King Princess—also, I heard that she and Amanda Stenburg are dating? Not sure if that's true, but damn cute couple if they are. Then there's_ Wild Love _by James Bay. The music video for this is absolutely amazing, Natalia looks fucking heavenly. I can't get over that song. Then there's_ Skydiving, Saviour _and_ We Were Here _by Lights. And then an older one,_ Life After You _, by Daughtry._ And What's Love Got To Do With It _, the cover by Prides, which I heard in_ Dynasty _and fell in love with._

Cloak and Dagger _has recently finished and it was amazing, and you should all definitely be watching it. There's also the show_ Castle Rock _that we've just started with Bill Skaarsgard, and I'll watch anything with him in it. Movie wise, we've recently watched_ Game Night _and_ Stronger _, which were both really good. We're September now and there's so many new seasons of my shows starting! What ones are you guys looking forward to?_

 _As a closing note, is anyone else keeping up with all this Jeffree Star drama and his ex-friends? I'm finding all of it hilarious. Me and one my best friends are in love with it all. Haha. Oh—and 21/08/2018 was apparently Fanfiction Appreciation Day! So, happy...That? Haha._

 _OMG—and everyone should watch_ Crazy Rich Asians _. I fucking loved it._

 _Let me know what you thought of the story, let me know if you want a preview of the next chapter x_


	9. Chapter 9

A week went by.

Isabelle's wounds were healed almost completely, just small scratches on her neck.

They hadn't had any more run ins with the Alpha, or any of his associates, and they hadn't smelt him around town.

They also hadn't seen Clary, or Magnus or Simon, and he hadn't heard from their either.

Jace didn't like the idea of just sitting around, so the next Friday night, he and Alec made sure the rest of their pack were safe in his loft, and then they went back to the preserve on the edge of town, where the attack had happened. Jace got out of his Camaro, slamming the door shut and shoving his hands into his pockets as he looked over at Alec, who had his head tilted back, scenting the air.

"I smell Magnus," he stated, a sour expression on his face.

"And Clary's friend," Jace muttered as they began walking across the preserve, toward the forest on the edge. It was dark, and the preserve was empty, which suited them perfectly. Humans were told to avoid the preserve and the forest around it when it was dark, because it was dark and far away from town, and it made them easy targets. Sometimes, teenagers or people who were cheating on their partners would park up at the preserve and make out in the back, but they barely ever ventured any further than the car park. "I can't smell her though."

"Nope, she can mask her scent," Alec grunted. "Although, there is that sharp sort of smell, at least that's I caught when we were at Charlotte and Lydia's."

"Like summer lightning," Jace said under his breath, and he missed the side look that Alec gave him. They got into the forest, and given there was no one around, they picked up their pace, running until they had reached the spot where Jace had fallen after being attacked by two of the people with the circle shaped tattoo's on their necks. Tattoo's, or glowing marks, he really had no idea. Jace reached the small clearing where he had been attacked and he stopped, looking around. "She was here," he said to Alec, who was already nodding. He could smell that sharp scent that seemed to be the only thing he could pick up from her in the trees and the ground.

"And the other two were with her," Alec crouched down, noting where some leaves had been disturbed recently. "At least we know that she's looking into it." Jace nodded, walking over to one of the tree's where he could smell Magnus, the warlocks scent all over it. There were barely any scents in the air, even though they knew that there had been three people there. Humans usually left scents lying around everywhere, their own personal scents over everything that they had touched and then their emotions usually hanging around in the air for a day or so after, tainting the fresh breeze.

"Have you spoken with Magnus?" Jace asked quietly.

"No," Alec practically snapped out, and Jace was glad that he was facing away away from his beta, because a small smile pulled at his lips. "Why would I have done that?"

"I don't know..." Jace shrugged. "We could see it on your face when you saw him at Charlotte's...And your heart beat was going absolutely crazy." He could hear Alec's heartbeat picking up now, even though the were was trying to contain it. "You know—" he broke off, not too sure what to say. "You know that we won't hold it against you if there's something that you wanted to pursue with him." Alec snorted and Jace turned around to look at him.

"He's a warlock for hire who isn't loyal to anyone except for himself," Alec muttered. "And I've got nothing to speak to him about so there won't be any—any _speaking_." Jace raised an eyebrow at the way his second stumbled over his words and Alec just held up a hand. "Shut up," he growled and Jace just shrugged.

"If you don't want to talk to Magnus, then it's nothing that I'm going to push," Jace said. "Where you decide to put your dick is between you and the lucky guy."

"Thanks," Alec retorted sarcastically. "But I don't like 'putting my dick' in people who betrayed us."

" _Technically_ he never betrayed us," Jace pointed out with another shrug as he walked over to where he had fallen just under two weeks ago, bending down on one knee. "I mean, it's not like he revealed anything about us to Rodrigo's clan." Alec made an unhappy noise under his breath, but Jace knew that Alec knew he was telling the truth. The first—and only other time than with Clary in Charlotte's living room—that they had encountered Magnus was when they had needed his help with some harpies that continued invading their territory. Magnus had only been there for a couple of days before he and Alec had fallen into bed with each other, and it hadn't taken a werewolf to be able to see and smell how happy Alec was when he was with the warlock in the weeks that they spent together.

However, it had been a job, and after they had managed to get the harpies off their land, it turned out that one of Magnus' long time clients was Rodrigo Torres, a vampire leader of one of the oldest clans in their part of the country. Also someone that they weren't on the best terms with. When Alec had realized that Magnus was going their directly after he finished with their pack, there had been a fiery argument between the two. Jace and the others in the pack weren't too sure of how things had exactly gone, but they knew that there had been a note left and then Magnus was gone.

Jace could understand that Alec felt lied to, but it had only been very early on in their relationship—if that's even what they could call it, and in all fairness, Magnus was blatantly someone who cared about money, given he was working _for them_ , even if in the end, he hadn't taken payment. Definitely because of Alec. However Jace also hadn't been a big fan of Magnus, he was cocky and knew all too well just how powerful he was, and it made Jace uncomfortable to have someone like that around, so he didn't argue Magnus' side too hard.

Seeing Alec's response, though, after a year had gone past, it was obvious he still had feelings for him.

"I just...I wanted to make sure that you knew that we just want you to be happy, and if Magnus is what makes you happy, then...Go for it," Jace felt uncomfortable and so he shook his head and cleared his throat. "Okay, well, we know that they had been here, we know that they're still looking into it."

"And we're just leaving it to them to do their thing?" Alec snorted, surprised at his Alpha's seemingly made up mind as he began to turn to head back out of the forest.

"It sounds as though Clary knows a bit more about this than we do, and if her and Magnus can help us figure out what we're up against, we'd be stupid not to take their help," Jace responded, trying to sound certain of his choice. Alec didn't look convinced, but he didn't argue as they began walking back out of the forest, their footsteps almost silent on the leaves and twigs that they were crossing over.

"How's your side?" Alec asked as they started getting toward the clearing. "Are you healed now?"

"Yeah," Jace muttered, his fingers instinctively going toward his side, to the wound that had been there for the past couple of days, longer than any other wound that had been inflicted on his body. "It's fine."

"Took longer than a normal Alpha wound," Alec noted. Jace just grunted under his breath in response, not wanting to get into the fact that it would have taken longer, except somehow Clary had healed it when she had touched him. They fell quiet as they crossed the clearing, toward the car.

* * *

"I really just don't see how this is fair," Clary tilted her head to the side with a teasing smile on her face, as she dipped one of her fingers into the nearly empty cocktail glass in front of her, and then stuck it in the corner of her mouth. "I travel all this way, you and I finally have some time off together where we're not working, and you're saying that you don't want to come back to my lovely, welcoming motel room that smells like dead people with me?"

"Oh, biscuit," Magnus smirked at her, leaning in so that their knees were now bumping together and he reached out so that he could trail one finger down the side of her face. "I'm afraid that there's someone else that I have my eye on."

"The dark haired, moody looking one," Clary stated, and Magnus lifted his eyebrow, but it really shouldn't have surprised him. "Don't think that I missed the way the two of you looked at each other, I may not have seen you for a long time, but I know you well." Magnus let his hand fall from her face and tipped his head from side to side. She looked up at the clock on the wall of the bar and made a face. "Shit, I should probably start heading back to that shitty little motel room, actually," she stated, leaning back in the booth. "This place is going to close up soon." They were pretty much the only ones left, except an older man at the bar who looked as though he had fallen asleep on the bar stool where he was slumped.

"Sounds like a good idea," Magnus nodded. "Did you want me to portal us back?"

"You're not the only one that can create a portal," Clary laughed and Magnus just shrugged.

"I'm not used to having another warlock around," Magnus responded. He slid out from the booth and then held out his hand to assist Clary out from their booth. Clary took his hand, her feet a little shaky underneath her from the alcohol that they had drunk through the evening. All it would take was a click of her fingers and then all effects would be gone, but she liked the feeling, the slight buzz in her veins, and so she would let it stay for a while longer. "Did you want to walk back to your motel? It's been a while since I've just walked through the night."

"Sounds like a good idea," Clary nodded and Magnus waited as she pulled her jacket on, doing up a few buttons before grabbing her purse in one hand and slipping the other one through Magnus' arm. They walked for a while, talking idly, jumping from one subject to another. Clary and Magnus had known each other for a while, and before she had passed away, Magnus had also been close friend with Clary's mother. Given how busy both of their lives were, however, it had been a long time since they had properly caught up with each other.

They were almost at the end of the main street of town, which was reasonably empty, when both warlocks felt a presence that made their magic swirl angrily. Clary's skin prickled and she glanced toward Magnus, who was already frowning.

The two started running in the same direction, across the empty street, feet kicking up at the thin layer of water across the road. They reached an alley way, where the curly haired girl from Jace's pack—Maia—was pressed up against a brick wall, her eyes glowing gold.

In front of her, were two people, clearly threatening her. A girl with fangs—a vampire, and a man beside her, _both_ of them with angry glowing, red circles on their necks.

 _Sooooo the first thing I want to say was that the P!nk concert was absolutely amazing! Holy shit, she was incredible. She spent more time up in the air than she did on the stage. It was also her birthday the night we went, so her daughter and hubby came out with a cake, and shit...The whole thing was just amazing._

 _I rewatched a couple of old movies when I was off work sick, some of my old favourites;_ Dinosaur, Matilda _and_ Stardust _. Honestly, I can never get tired of them. Animated movies are my go-to's when I'm sick or drained and just done with life. Haha. They're just the beeeest. I also really wanted to recommend_ Hannah Gandsby: Nanette _. It's a comedy special on Netflix and I really don't want to say much about it and give it away, but it is absolutely incredible, and not quite what you would expect? Watch iiiiiit._

 _Song wise, I'm super obsessed with_ Dynasty _by MIIA, and all the fandom videos on Youtube using that song. And_ High Hopes _by Panic! at the Disco. Everytime I hear that song, all I can see is Shawn Mendes appreciative look at Brendon Urie as he was performing it at the VMA's. Hahaha. Also_ High On Life _by Martin Garrix,_ Temporary Love _by Joey,_ 48 _by Moss Kena and_ The Getaway _by Hilary Duff. If you guys have any recommendations, send them through!_

 _I've also become re-obsessed with 5SOS. They were amazing in concert when I saw them a few years ago, but I hadn't been a massive fan then. I ammmm now! Luke Hemming in that damn glittery eyeliner. Shit! And maybe when he and Michael play each others guitars, I get intense heart eyes, I don't know..._

 _Oh, has anyone watched the newest season of_ Ozark _? I_ haven't _gotten around to it yet, not sure if it's as good as the first season? Also, we finally finished_ Banshee _. Haha. I know that it's a super old show, but we just have so many that we took ages to get through. But we finally did! God, it was brilliant. I absolutely adored Job and Sugar, and Siobhan just broke my heart. Overall, the show was great, and if you haven't seen it, please do!_

 _Oooh, oooh! And_ The Gifted _is back! Thunderblink is beautiful and I'm totally digging Andy's look. And_ SVU _!_

 _Oh—and is everyone else watching the new Shane Dawsons documentary? I don't really like the subject matter at all, dude's an ass, but I love him._

 _Omg. Okay. I'll stop here. God I hate these once monthly updates. Can't wait till my schedule is less busy. Anyway. Let me know what you thought of the chapter, and let me know if you want a preview xx_


	10. Chapter 10

_Okay, so...I had a really, really,_ really, really _shitty day. Not the worst I've had, not by far, I actually managed to get myself out of bed and somehow drove to work, although through anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds, I don't remember much. So I had a horrible, horrible day, but then I came home and my husband had brought me roses, and chocolate, and my favourite lollies—and not_ just _my favourite lollies, but he went through all the packs at the shop to find the one with the most of the pineapple lollies, which are my_ favourite of the favourite _. Then we watched almost three hours of Shane Dawson and Ryland Adams videos, and fell more in love with Garrett Watts._

 _And now I feel a lot better. A_ hell _of a lot better._

 _So much better that I wanted to do something to make you guys happy as well :)_

 _Here's an update..._

"Ooh," the vampire tilted her head to the side, smirking as she drank the two in front of her in. She seemed to have forgotten about Maia, although she was still trapped in since her associate was standing on her other side. "What do we have here?" She hummed out as her eyes glanced between Clary and Magnus. "Looks like you've got some friends in high places," she smirked as she turned back to Maia, leaning forward and snapping her teeth at Maia's neck. Maia let out a threatening growl, but she barely moved, knowing that the vampire could snap her neck by closing her jaw around her trachea. The dark haired woman laughed and looked back toward Clary. "You know, there's something that is dying to see you. I think that—"

"Camille," the man commented, his voice harsh. "It's time to go," he smirked as he looked directly at Clary. "I think we've got our point across." Maia frowned, her eyes glowing in the dark, and Clary could sense that she was scared, but also angry at being caught off guard. The vampire and the man's necks both had the same circle burnt into them that the men from the first night had had, although they weren't glowing in the same way that theirs had. Maia tried not to let her fear show on her face, but the smirk that Camille directed at her told her that she wasn't doing a very good job.

Camille and the man turned on their heel, and they disappeared within seconds. Maia swallowed hard as she stepped away from the wall, staring into the darkness after the two, before spinning around and glaring at Clary and Magnus.

"You could have stopped them! What the fuck was that?!" Maia snapped. "You just let them go?!"

"Clearly she gets her manners from her Alpha," Magnus muttered, rolling his eyes as he ran his fingers through his spiky hair, the tips dyed a dark blue colour. "Now, I'm assuming you're going to want to take this puppy back to her pack?" Maia let out another growl and she curled her fingers inward, like claws, and Clary rolled her eyes, knowing first hand that Magnus had a way of getting underneath people's skin.

"Portal us to his apartment," Clary said with a nod. Magnus' eyes shifted for a moment, his warlock mark flickering over his orbs, and then he reached out and touched Maia's shoulder, and took Clary's hand, and the next thing, they were outside the heavy metal roller door of Jace's apartment.

"I think I can leave you two to take it from here," Magnus said, and then disappeared with a dull 'poof'. Clary looked across at Maia, who looked a little sick.

"It happens the first couple of times you portal," Clary commented off handedly as her fingers flickered, quickly destroying the wards that Jace had probably only just put up around his apartment since she brought down the first time she had come by. Once they were down, she grabbed a hold of the roller door and jerked it open, the lock clearly unlatched when she brought down the wards.

"You really need to learn the art of knocking," Jace commented tersely, not looking happy as he strode over to where her and Maia came into the room. He breezed past Clary, his concern clearly on Maia, and he cupped her face in his hands as he looked her over. "Are you okay?" He asked, thumbs gentle on her cheeks.

"She let them go!" Maia snapped, looking accusingly over at Clary, who just rolled her eyes again, which infuriated Maia no end. "Her and Magnus were _right there_ when they attacked me, and they just let them go." Jace frowned as he turned toward Clary, one of his hands still resting on Maia's face.

"I thought you were meant to be here to help us," his voice was just as accusatory as Maia's and Clary bit back the sneer that she felt creeping across her face.

"I _am_ ," Clary pursed her lips. She was tired, and she had really no plan to face Jace tonight, which meant that she _really_ hadn't mentally prepared herself for a run-in. His arrogance literally felt as though it sucked the energy out of him every time she was around him, and even though she knew that she wasn't the easiest person to get on with, but she was pretty sure that Jace was even harder. "Look, at the moment, other than your first meeting with members of The Cir—that _group_ , it didn't go the best, but they haven't made any further attacks. Cornering Maia was just to get your attention, to make sure _you knew_ that they were still around, still in town. It was a threat, but it wasn't an attack. If Magnus and I had attacked them..." Clary breathed out heavily through her nose, running her hands through her fiery coloured hair. "It wouldn't have been the smartest move."

"Oh, really? Taking down a couple of the people who tried to kill members of my pack wasn't a smart move?!" Jace bit out, turning around fully to face Clary, stepping between the two of them, in front of Maia as though to protect her from Clary.

"I think that you should be taking a little responsibility for this yourself, Mr Big Alpha," Clary snipped at Jace, and when his nose twitched, she knew that he was trying to pick up on any angry chemosignals that would usually be coming off a person. She didn't doubt for a moment that if she didn't have all sorts of spells and wards surrounding her body, she would completely reek of frustration and anger. " _You_ shouldn't allow your pack to be wandering around by themselves when you know that there's a threat in town! You should be keeping a closer eye on your pups!"

"Hey, who the fuck are you—"

"Maia!" Jace cut her off, holding up his hand, obviously seeing the way Clary was gathering herself up, hands clenched at her side, on edge already, and snarky comments from Maia weren't going to help the situation. Maia let out a huff and crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes flashing at Clary. Clary's shoulders were raised and she could feel the temptation for her own eyes to start sparking purple, but she held it back. "I came to you, the other day, and I said that I didn't want to be left out of this. This is my town, my territory and _my pack_ ," he jabbed his finger in the air. "If you had the opportunity to take any of this group of people out, you should have!"

" _You_ don't tell me what to do!" Clary fired back at Jace, her temper seeming to bubble over. "I was called here because this wasn't something that _you_ could handle!" Clary could see Jace's eyes beginning to flicker, the pupil beginning to bleed red. "So just because _you_ can't keep your own pack safe, _don't_ project that on to me!" She knew when she hit the sore spot, because Jace's eyes suddenly burned a bright, brilliant red.

He felt guilty.

He felt angry that he couldn't protect his pack, that this wasn't something that he could handle on his own.

She would feel back about targeting that sore spot later, but for now, she was angry.

"I _protect them_ ," Jace ground out, and Maia couldn't decide whether she was more angry or worried as she looked between her Alpha and the Spark opposite each other. She stood firm, half of her body hidden behind Jace's back, but her eyes still glowing gold in defiance, in support of Jace. Clary's eyes weren't on her, though, they were completely focused on the golden haired werewolf in front of her.

"Oh yeah? Then why was Maia out by herself in the middle of the night?! Why was she out unprotected?!" Clary snapped. "Where were _you_ when _your pack member was cornered_?!"

"That was _my fault_!" Maia's voice was rising, just like the other two in the room. "Jace explicitly told us not to go out alone, especially at night, and—"

"Oh, okay, so that's just great," Clary's lips quirked in a sarcastic smirk. "Then it appears as though your pack just doesn't have enough respect to follow a few simple orders?" Maia's lip curled upward and she looked as though she was about to leap forward and attack Clary, and the red head was prepared for that to potentially happen, her magic beginning to swell in her blood and travel down her arms, filling her veins.

"This isn't about my leadership!" Jace's voice was trembling with barely controlled rage, and his eyes were still burning red, furious and vibrant. "This is about what _you're_ doing to help us with this enemy group—the same enemy group that you apparently just let walk away!"

"If Magnus and I had taken out those two, then the rest of them might have disappeared! And then we might have lost them—we might have lost Valen—" Clary caught herself and let out an exasperated sound.

"What?! What were you just about to say?!" Jace demanded. "What do you know that we don't?!"

"There's a lot that I know that you don't," Clary snapped at him. "There's a whole fuck of a lot, and that's why I'm here to help."

"Oh yeah?" Jace sneered. "Well, you don't seem to be doing a great job of that! Just letting them go—"

"Funny, I'm pretty sure little Miss Hair over there—" Clary jabbed her finger at Maia. "—wouldn't be okay if I wasn't around!"

"You little bitch—" Maia made another lunge at Clary, her eyes glowing bright gold with her fangs showing, and despite the terrifying picture that she made, Clary didn't step back, looking as though she was fully prepared to take on the girl if that's what it came to. She managed to whip around in front of her Alpha before Jace grabbed both of her biceps and restrained her.

"We can't keep doing this shit," Clary waved a finger between herself and where Jace and Maia were standing, not looking at all concerned by the snarling woman in front of her. "We need to work together, not _against_ one another."

"As if we would want to work together with the chick who is apparently letting go the people who were attacking us," Maia snarled. Jace still looked angry, but not as angry as Maia. Clary rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," she muttered. "I'm not in the mood for this. I'm tired, and I'm going back to my shitty little hotel room. Text Lydia when and where you train, and she'll pass it on." She stalked past Maia and Jace, not paying any attention to the way that Maia snarled and snapped her jaw, and Jace flashed his eyes, leaving the apartment without another word.

 _Yesterday was World Mental Health Day, or today is that day for a lot of you, the 10th._

 _Please be kind to each other, people have so much going on in their heads that just isn't obvious from the outside._

 _Much love xx_


	11. Chapter 11

_Hey guys :) So this is my last update of the year. I've got quite a lengthy A/N below, but in case you guys don't want to read my droning on and on, then I want to wish you guys a safe and a happy holidays and I will be back next year xxx_

 _Also, I have posted several new stories, including a werewolf one called_ Put Your Heart On Mine, _and a biker one,_ Wrong Side Of A Parallel Universe _. I definitely have my favourite AU's. Haha. So check those out :)_

Jace licked his lips, feeling a little nervous as he looked around his pack. Will, Jem and Max were play fighting with each other, rolling around on the dusty ground, snapping their fangs at each other and then rolling away, laughing. Isabelle was perched on a broken chair, and for some reason she had brought a nail file and nail polish, and she was filing her nails and touching up the purple polish, looking completely uninterested in the proceedings around her. Helen and Alec were talking quietly among themselves, probably the most organized out of his pack and he was glad to have them standing at his side. He was probably most worried about Maia, who was tense and glaring at the three non-pack members who were standing on the other side of the abandoned warehouse, talking quietly among themselves.

Jace wasn't sure what was making him more annoyed; the fact that Clary had pretty much forced herself on them, and he knew that it was because she was going to judge them, or that the three of them—Clary, Simon and Magnus—weren't even paying attention. They were talking quietly, but the werewolves in the room could all still hear what they were saying.

They were talking about some visit to Paris that they all took, and apparently Simon had made a fool of himself over some succubus, and Magnus and Clary had needed to swoop in and save him.

Absolutely _nothing_ to do with what they were doing here.

It made Jace angry, and his pack slowly picked up on his feelings, and he could feel them tensing and falling quiet, making their way over so that they were all standing around their Alpha. Jace tried to control his anger, not wanting to put off his pack, because they were already going to feel off balance enough with the other three there.

Jace and his pack didn't often train.

They didn't have much reason to.

He didn't leave them defenseless—he taught his pack control, and he taught them how to keep their shift managed, and he always made sure they were together in a full moon. He also taught them how to fight, and every couple of months they would gather in this abandoned warehouse to train, but it wasn't...It wasn't particularly serious. Most of the time, Jem and Max would goof off and not really listen, and Isabelle was usually too careful with her nails to throw her full force into it.

"Alright," Clary lifted her voice and began walking over to the pack. Maia let out a growl under her breath while Alec's eyes were just focused on Magnus, who was walking behind Clary, a playful smirk on the mans face. "So...You guys start whenever, we're just here to observe." She moved over to sit down on the broken chair that Isabelle had vacated and crossed her legs as she watched them expectantly.

Jace wanted to snap his jaw and snarl at Clary, because even though her outward expression was calm and almost pleasant, he knew that she was there to judge his pack.

And they knew that as well.

His pack started strong, Alec and Will.

They were two of the best fighters in his pack, and they were actually serious about it when they set their minds to it. They lunged at each other, claws extended and their mouths twisted into snarls. Blood was drawn quickly and there was the snapping sound of ribs and wrists breaking, and Jace couldn't help but glance toward Clary, Magnus and Simon, to try and figure out what they were thinking. Clary and Magnus' expressions were unreadable, although Simon looked a little sickened, especially when Alec tackled Will, and Will's leg was bent at a weird angle until it healed itself. The two men fought hard with each other, and Jace was proud as he watched them.

"Stop," Clary said, not loudly, but with enough power to make everyone in the room pay attention to her. She stood up and looked at Alec and Will, not sparing a glance toward Jace. "You two know each other too well, you might be inflicting some pain on each other, but you're not throwing your full force into it." She pursed her lips and tilted her head to the side, and for a split second, she looked exactly like the girl who came into Jace's apartment, before he knew who she was. She looked young and petite, and not at all like an all powerful Spark that Lydia and Charlotte were making her out to be. "Fight me," she stated.

"What?" Will snorted.

"Fight me," Clary repeated. Jace's eyebrows pulled together at the statement, and Alec and Will both looked toward their Alpha for guidance. Jace wasn't sure what he was meant to say, because even though he knew that she was a Spark, Alec and Will were still two extremely strong werewolves. They got seriously injure her. "Fucking hell," Clary muttered, and all of a sudden, there was a shock wave that shuddered through the building, emanating from Clary.

It sent everyone in the room flying, except for Magnus and Simon, who seemed prepared for the shock, and Magnus had stepped in front of Simon to protect him.

Before Alec and Will could even get to their feet and react, Clary was attacking them again, her fingers flicking and advancing on them. She was fast, and she was strong. Obviously a lot of that came from her power as a Spark, but she was obviously a skilled fighter, given her quick foot work and the way her arms and hands moved.

Alec was the first one on his feet, and Clary jumped, one of her legs spinning as her whole body turned, and her foot hitting him in the side of the face. Alec's whole body jerked backwards, but he recovered quickly, and started attacking her. Clary met every single one of his punches and kicks and jabs, blocking them, dancing away, making the whole thing look like it was all part of intricate choreography. She ducked when Will came running at her as well, and Jace winced as Will slammed into Alec's torso. They both groaned as they crashed down to the concrete floor.

Alec pulled back and Clary's attention shifted onto him. He backed up, but he wasn't running away, just putting some distance between them. Jace's eyes flickered between the two of them, and he noted the small smile that creased across her face as her eyes followed Alec. Will scrambled to his feet and followed Alec's lead. The two men looked at each other, and it was obvious that Alec had an idea and wanted to communicate with Will. They couldn't verbally do it, though, given Clary was right there, watching them carefully, and Will seemed to get sick of waiting and charged again. Alec let out a huff of annoyance and charged in as well, giving up on whatever plan he had been trying to conjure up.

Clary sent Will flying toward the high windows with a flick of her fingers and then promptly broke Alec's leg by ducking his punches and hooking one of her legs around his, throwing her weight at Alec's torso so that he tumbled over and his weight fell in the opposite direction from the way his leg was facing.

"Who's next?" Clary asked as she turned toward Jace, flicking her hair over her shoulder and lightly bouncing on the balls of her feet. Alec was still groaning at her feet, and Jace's jaw clenched and he wanted to go in and comfort his beta, but he knew that he would be okay. Alec's bones were undoubtedly already stitching themselves back together.

Maia charged in next.

She was quick and a good fighter, and she had a whole lot of anger pent up that made her move faster and stronger. She threw everything she had into the fight, and

Isabelle went in after Clary sent Maia slamming into the concrete wall at the far end that made a loud cracking noise. Isabelle was a lot more calculated than Maia, and it actually seemed as though her and Clary fought very similarly. There were a few snarky remarks exchanged between the girls, and Isabelle lasted almost as long as Alec and Will before Clary sent her soaring toward the ceiling with a burst of magic.

Which, really, didn't seem fair, although he guessed that was the point.

Max, Jem, Aline, Helen...None of them lasted long against Clary.

Jace was fuming, and his whole body was on edge, wanting to jump in and protect his pack. Every now and then, he was getting hit with sparks from Clary, and they were sharp and electric, crawling around underneath his skin, making his heart beat faster and his fingers twitch. He was hit with a feeling that had happened when he had been around her before, like there was something under his skin, just wanting to get out.

"Alright," Clary clapped her hands together and looked around at the pack that she had quick and efficiently disabled. "Jace," she turned to him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Tell me what they did wrong." Simon and Magnus finally seemed to pay attention to the group, Magnus' eyes intense and flickering between his warlock mark—his cat eyes—and Simon crossing his arms over his chest.

Jace could list things, and he did, knowing that his pack would take them on as constructive criticism.

Max and Jem didn't want to hurt anyone, they would never go in for the final blow, they never put their full weight behind any of their punches.

Helen was similar, and she got distracted easily, especially when Aline was nearby.

Aline didn't know how to use her power as a banshee properly. She could sense death and trouble, but she didn't know how to concentrate it when in a fight.

Will didn't think things through before charging, just like Maia, they just kind of did it.

Alec and Isabelle were the strongest fighters, and they were cunning and picked up on weak spots. Both of them needed practice, and they needed to learn to fight with each other, rather than as two separate units, but that also extended to the whole pack. They didn't train together often enough, and when they did, Jace wasn't strict enough with them and he didn't force them to fight together, to learn each others movements.

"Great," Clary shrugged, and she flicked her fingers through her hair and Jace couldn't help but narrow his eyes at her physical appearance right now. Her cheeks were a little flushed, and her hair wasn't as tidy as it had been, but other than that, she still looked completely put together. There was some dust on her leggings, and at some point she had taken off the hoodie she was wearing, but his pack looked a whole lot worse for wear that she did. "So we start tomorrow, yeah?"

"What?" Jace asked, caught off guard by her comment.

"Well, you just said that they needed work, and the reason I'm here is because there's a threat in town," Clary raised an eyebrow. "I mean, other than you, pretty girl—" she threw a smirk in Isabelle's direction, and the dark haired girl grinned back, waggling her fingers in response, obviously something clicking between the pair of them. "And you, Blue Eyes—" she glanced over at Alec, and Jace didn't miss the way that Alec's eyes stayed locked on Magnus. "The rest of you need a _hell_ of a lot of work." There was a low growl from Maia, and Jace couldn't stop his eyes from flickering red at the disrespectful comment. The rest of his pack didn't look too upset with the remark though, probably because it was _true_.

"Or we can start later..." Simon stepped forward, nudging Clary with an elbow, as though gently reminding her that she wasn't in charge here.

"Whatever," Clary shrugged off-handedly. "Or later, but if they're not ready, and they get caught out, then that's on you." Magnus blew a kiss at Alec with blue magic twisting in the air before it fizzled out, and Alec's cheeks went red, and the man smirked and turned around, sauntering toward the door. Simon was close behind him, and then with a wave of her fingers, Clary skipped out after then.

Jace hated to admit it, even to himself, but he felt her presence leave them like an itch under his skin.

 _So usually this is the point where I tell you guys some movies and songs that I'm super into. Since this is my last post, I had some other things I wanted to say. But I did see the new_ Halloween _movie, and_ The House With A Clock In Its Walls _and_ Venom _, and they were all good, although Venom was a bit of a let down. Also, anyone else a GallaVich supporter? I stopped watching_ Shameless _a few seasons ago, when it started spiraling, but holy shit, tumblr when crazy with the reunion, and that totally made my day. It was amaaaazing. These two boys deserve each other, and I'm so glad they got a very...fitting send off :)_

 _Right, well..._

 _This year has been hard. I feel this year has been bad for everyone. There have been the numerous mass shootings, it feels as though there is just one natural disaster after another and there is the continual, completely legitimate distrust of authorities who are meant to be the ones protecting us. There are so many things that I could write in here and specifically comment on, but I don't want to make this a political statement, just a statement that wherever we are in the world, we are all struggling. There are so many people struggling at the moment, but today, my heart goes out to the people of Brazil, all people in the Jewish community and to the beautiful LGBTQA members of the world, especially the transgender community, and specifically those in America._

 _There have been good things as well, though! The rescue of the boys in Thailand, the proud, unapologetic statement that Colin Kaepernick's Nike campaign made, the decriminalization of homosexuality in India, the incredible organisation and unity in the March For Our Lives and the utter love and support shown by so many people in this world toward one another. This was just demonstrated yet again in the past few days with the non profit Muslim organisations who set up the online funding for those in the Jewish community affected by this one of the most recent horrific attacks._

 _This year has also been hard for myself personally, as I'm sure some of you are aware from my posts. My mental health is probably the worst it's ever been, I'm dealing with some relationship issues with my husband, I lost the friendship of someone that I considered very close after a betrayal that left me spinning and over the past few months, it's been the one year anniversary of the deaths of three people, who all died within a month of each other. I consider myself pretty open with you guys about my problems, and a big reason for that is because I know how lonely this huge world can feel sometimes. I just hope that with me putting myself out there, if you guys are dealing with something similar, then hopefully you know you're not alone. While I don't always have the best words, if any of you ever want to PM me just to get things off your chest, I'm here. I don't always know what to say, but sometimes just putting your problems into words can help, and I am more than happy to be that person for any of you xx_

 _Alright._

 _Well._

 _That was all very intense, but I felt it was necessary. I'm sorry if it felt as though I was crossing a line with any of it, but that's why I said at the top that if you didn't want to read all of this, just read by first authors note!_

 _Anyway._

 _I hope every single one of you has a safe and incredible and happy holidays with the people you love the most, and I will be back next year, probably early February. Here's to a better next year xx_


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey, my beautiful, wonderful readers! It's early February, so as promised, here's an update! I hope you guys have had an amazing past few months, and I hope you're still interested in these stories! Just a quick heads up that I've uploaded some oneshots, and I do still have a couple to post, but I had so many requests to update my multi-chapters, so I thought I would update these before continuing with my editing, so there are some more to come!**

 **Anyway, here we go...**

Jace needed to get out and run.

It had been almost three weeks since Clary and Simon had come into town, about a week and a half since Clary had saved Maia from the attack of whoever it was who had come into their town. Since then, they had been training together as a pack, every day, every chance that they got. Clary was always there, Simon and Magnus sometimes came, but she was always there. She didn't really say much, sitting in the corner of the old warehouse and watching with her eyes narrowed, taking everything in.

It sometimes threw his pack off, he could feel that coming off them. Especially Maia, because Maia hated that Clary had come to her rescue. She knew that she owed Clary, and that was something else that she hated. The others managed to ignore her most of the time, although Jace could tell that they were curious about her, they wanted to know more.

And it threw him off.

He didn't like to admit it, but she made him feel off-balance, and not right. He felt as though there was something more, sliding around inside of him, flickering in his nerve endings, trying to get out through his fingers and toes. He had never felt like that before, not since becoming an Alpha, when he was young. He had always felt completely confident, completely comfortable in his skin, and intune with his wolf.

So he hated that someone was throwing him off.

He didn't go to the reserve, even though that was the best place for him to run. He didn't go to the edge of town, towards the woods, because he knew that it wasn't safe to be there alone. As much as he didn't want to admit to himself, he had been caught off guard by these intruders in his town before, and he didn't know what he was up against, so he couldn't risk getting caught alone. He also couldn't be too far from his pack, he needed to be close enough that he could get to them as soon as they called, if they ended up in trouble.

So instead, Jace just ran.

He had to force himself to keep at a normal pace, maybe just a little bit faster than an average human. Jace's sneakered feet slapped down on the pavement as he ran down the main street, turning down one of the side roads that lead through the winding back alleys of the township. He passed by a handful of people coming out of a restaurant, there were a couple of drunk men standing outside a bar, smoking cigarettes. There was another late night jogger with a dog, who pulled on it's lead and tried to growl as they passed by Jace.

Jace was just turning to run by a creek that ran alongside town when suddenly, a red head stepped out of the shadows and into his path.

"Fuck!" Jace snapped as he almost tripped over his feet as he skidded to a stop. There was a furious expression on Clary's face and her eyes were sparking purple. He could even pick up on a slight chemosignal coming off her, and it was angry, just like her expression, but it disappeared as quickly as it hit him, replaced only with that sharp, lightning smell that seemed to follow her.

"What are you doing out here?!" Clary asked, her words snipped.

"Running," Jace responded with a frown, glancing around. "What are _you_ doing out here?"

"The job that you're _paying me_ to do," Clary stepped closer to him with a glare. "I'm checking the wards that I had put up around the town, seeing if anyone has come in recently that I need to follow up on." Her eyes were still glowing purple as she stepped up, directly in front of him so that they were almost pressed chest to chest, and Jace was hit with a wave of frustration once again that she somehow managed to keep such a tight reign on most of the time. He had never come across anyone before who masked their chemosignals and their scent in the way that Clary did, not even other warlocks and Sparks that he had encountered. "So, what, all this being careful and not going out along shit doesn't apply to you?"

"I could say the same thing about you," Jace retorted.

" _I_ can take care of myself!" Clary growled.

"So can _I_!" Jace retaliated.

"Oh, right," Clary's sneer was utterly sarcastic. "I forgot that last time when both you _and_ one of your beta's ended up with bloody wounds, that was _intentional_!" Her voice was rising, and Jace couldn't help but let his own eyes begin to glow, red meeting purple for what felt like the umpteenth time. She frustrated him. She rubbed him up the wrong way—both him and his wolf. He wasn't sure what it was about her, there was just something about her—something that was making his skin itch and his wolf pace impatiently inside him, howling in annoyance at the feeling that there was something _more_ , something that needed to get out.

" _You_ don't get to tell me what to do, this is _my_ town—"

"Okay," Clary snapped and held up a hand which made Jace stop speaking, even though he wanted to kick himself after. "I'm not even going to begin to tell you how much that statement compares you to a teenager." Jace opened his mouth to snip at her again, but suddenly Clary reached out and gripped his wrist, her other hand flicking out and rotating in a circle, and a hazy oval appeared in front of them.

"I don't need—" she was a lot stronger than she looked, because she stepped through the portal and gave a strong tug at his wrist, and Jace was caught off balance and he stumbled after her. The next blink of his eyes and they were back in his apartment, on the far side, next to the long windows that looked out over the township. Jace let out a growl, the sharp smell filing his nose, the only real scent that he had ever got from Clary, that charred smell, like lightning. He yanked his hand away from Clary, turning on her with his eyes glowing blood red. "What the fuck?!" He snapped at her.

"You need to keep yourself safe!" Clary sounded exasperated. It sounded as though Jace was definitely getting to her, which he counted as a win, in an immature way that he would never admit out loud to anyone. "You tell your pack to make sure they don't go out alone, and then just a few days later I see you doing exactly that, out here alone."

Jace had to get away from her.

There were all sorts of _things_ that she made him feel, and he hated it. It felt like his skin was shrinking in, like his bones were going to move, transform, make him into something, like his wolf wasn't enough. It made him restless, uneasy, and it made him want to howl in frustration. He had no idea what it was about Clary that made him feel that way, because the rest of his pack didn't feel that way. They were all fine. They were on edge because of the attacks, and they could pick up on his anxiousness, but none of them felt the same way they did.

He couldn't work it out.

"You know..." Jace took in a deep breath, making sure to purposefully breathe in through his nose deeply, trying _desperately_ to pick up on any scent from Clary. _Anything_. Anything to tell him what she was thinking or feeling.

And as usual, there was nothing.

Just the smell of lightning that surrounded her wherever she went.

"You know, you seem to have a real connection with whoever it is that's out there," Jace told her, trying to keep his voice angry and firm. _And even_. "Maia's right, you know a lot more than you're letting on. How do we know that they're not just hanging around here because you're here?"

"You think you'd be able to get rid of them without me?" Clary arched an eyebrow disbelievingly at him, advancing toward Jace and closing the gap that he had managed to put between them.

"I think they would leave if you did," Jace responded. Clary shook her head with a snort, her red curls bouncing around her shoulders. Jace's eyebrows pulled together as his eyes flicked over her face.

"They won't," she told him, her voice almost a hiss.

"How do you know—"

" _They won't_ ," Clary repeated, her green eyes shifting from their glowing jade colour to the deep purple they did when she was calling for the magic inside herself. Or when she was angry. Very similar to a werewolf, Jace noted to himself. But when her eyes glowed, when that magic was starting to swell around her, that was when things got even worse for him.

And it almost felt familiar.

He just couldn't put his finger on it.

"Trust me on this," Clary continued and it annoyed Jace, but he was pretty sure she was right. "I wasn't there the first time they attacked you, so you're in their line of fire just as much as I am." Jace gritted his teeth together as she stabbed her finger at his chest.

It almost _hurt_ the spark that shot through his body, spreading from that spot in in his chest that she had jabbed. That lightning, that magic that Clary carried around with her, it felt as though it was shooting through his limbs and jolting something inside of him.

It felt like he had touched a live wire and the response was automatic, instantaneous, almost violent.

Jace lurched forward, a hand going to Clary's head and twining themselves in her hair, gripping the strands almost painfully as he jerked her forward. Their lips came together with a clink of teeth and painful smash of their mouths and then the most surprising thing.

A _scent_.

It was surprise and shock and the tiniest hint of arousal and the _sweetest thing he had ever smelt_.

It was sharp and sugary, and it caught Jace completely by surprise that his mouth faltered, and the kiss broke as Clary's hands came up to his chest and shoved him away. It didn't feel as though she had put her magic into the push, but it still managed to put a few inches between them. Clary's eyes were wide, and they were purple, and he could still smell her scent, whatever she usually used to shield her emotions and her smell completely failing her.

Clary's lips were parted and it looked as though she was going to say something, before she snapped her fingers, that hazy oval appearing again, and she stepped back, into it, disappearing, leaving Jace alone and confused in his apartment.

 **Right! So, here's the super, super long A/N—sorry! I had a great Christmas and New Years time, not really doing much, just spending time at the beach and with my husband and with some of best friends. This year has started well, there's been a few bad days, but hey, happens to everyone. I hope your year has started just as good, and you spent it with family and friends if that's what you prefer, and that you spent it alone and quiet if that's what you prefer.**

 **I wanted to say that I managed to get around to most of peoples oneshots, at least the ones that struck a chord with me because some of prompts just aren't the type that I can write, and I had fun with the ones I wrote! You can still send me prompts or requests through the year, and I try and get to them near the end of the year when I focus on oneshots. Can be in a huge variety of fandoms, just ask me :)**

 **On with the recommendations!**

 **TV Shows: _Roswell: New Mexico_. Well. I loooved the original series, even if I can see a lot of flaws in it when watching it now back to when I was a teenager. I'm enjoying the reboot so far, I really like the change up in Liz, and Michael's relationship with Alex. I love that Tyler Blackburn from Pretty Little Liars is in it, and Michael Trevino from Vampire Diaries, because he was one of my favourite characters from VD. Anyway. Fingers crossed it goes well. And I intensely ship Max/Liz already, and not because I know they're supposed to get together, but because I love their chemistry, which is more than the original series, at least for my side. Oh and _The Runaways_ Season 2! I liked Gert a lot more in this one. Ooh, and _Sex Education_. That show is absolutely brilliant. Like, insanely brilliant. I'm so glad it's been renewed for another season. I also started watching _The Following_ for the hundredth time because this show is amazing.**

 **Music: _6 Figures_ by Kings, _Run Away With Me_ by Carly Rae Jepsen, _Old News_ by Mitch James, _Wasted_ by Jesse McCartney and _Bad_! by XXXTENTACION. Ooh, and _Saturday Nights_ by Khalid, _Bury A Friend_ by Billie Eilish and _Wild Enough_ by Elina.**

 **Movies: _Tomb Raider_ , which I watched for the second time the other week and I quite enjoyed it, a lot more than the first time I watched it. Alicia Vikander is a babe. Also _How To Train Your Dragon 3_. Holy shit. I knew this one was going to get me in the feels, but I didn't expect to cry twice. It was beautiful. Also the new _Robin Hood._ Maybe I'm biased because I love Taron Egerton, but I didn't think it was anywhere near as bad as what the reviews said. I know it wasn't great, but I still enjoyed it, and Marian was a badass.**

 **Now, I've got some questions! Thought I'd change things up a little this year.**

 **So; what is your favourite song right now? Mine would be a tie between _Run Away With Me_ by Carley Rae Jepsen and _Back To Life_ by Hailee Steinfield.**

 **What is...Your favourite movie that you've seen recently? Mine would be _Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse_.**

 **Aaaand what is your favourite fandom to read in? For me it would be a tie between the DC fandom and _Harry Potter_ right now, although it changes frequently.**

 **Talk to me, let me know what you thought and answer the questions if you feel inclined to!**


	13. Chapter 13

Aline's scream probably woke up the whole neighbourhood around where she lived, and it most _definitely_ woke up her pack. They were all connected, long, invisible lines stretching out between them that kept them tethered to one another, and when one of them was in as much emotional pain as Aline was in that moment, they all came running. Jace was the second to last one there, Alec stumbling in through the side door of her house last as the rest of the pack gathered around Aline. Isabelle and Maia had ushered her out to the lounge, wrapped a blanket around her and sat her down on the couch. Helen was coming out of the kitchen with a cup of herbal tea in her hands, and the pack broke their protective huddle to allow Aline's girlfriend through, before quickly completely the circle again.

"Are you alright?" Isabelle asked, stroking her hand up and down Aline's back. Helen was at her other side, pressed hard up against her, connected from shoulder to knee with how they were sitting. The rest of the pack was reaching out to touch her, were's being such tactile creatures that that was the best way they knew how to make one another feel better emotionally, by being connected physically.

"I..." Aline broke off for a moment, her hair a mess around her face, and Jace nudged Will out of the way so that he could kneel in front of her. He rested his hands on her knees, his thumbs gently rubbing against the bare skin. Even though she wasn't a were, she was still part of their pack, and that meant Jace, as the Alpha, was the one who best calmed her down. He reached deep inside himself and found his centre, and then projected that on to Aline, taking some of the emotional pain from her.

It was easier to take physical pain, given emotional pain ran so much deeper, but Jace did it anyway, taking in a portion of that pain so that it dulled inside Aline. After a moment, the girl let out a shaky breath, and the chemosignals that came off her weren't quite as panicked as they were before.

"Was it one of us?" Jace asked quietly, his hands still resting on her knees, keeping them connected. "Did you see one of us?" They were all still trying to work through what Aline's power actually meant. Banshee's in general could sense death, could feel it, but it wasn't as simple as that. They couldn't just _look_ at someone and be able to tell if they were going to die, when and how. Usually it was only if it was a gruesome, untimely death, and most of the time it just came to Aline in flashes, giving her glimpses of where or when it was going to happen. Banshee's were born with their power, but unless it was nurtured, it didn't manifest, and so it hadn't been until she had moved into their town and started dating Helen that the power in her was awoken.

Sometimes she saw the face of the person who was in danger, but most times it was just a feeling of danger toward one person. The only times she had ever seen the face of someone had been when it was a member of the pack. It had been when Max had gotten involved with a seelie who just wanted to use him for his power, and drain it from him, along with his life source. And Maia, when she had started seeing a guy at the bar she worked at, who had anger issues, and had tried to attack her, leaving her with scars on her neck. And then she had once seen Jace's face, but it had been when he was having a nightmare. It was a weird, twisted nightmare that had felt so real it was more like a memory, of a man with blank eyes, talking about demon blood and how powerful he was going to be and just _latching_ onto him.

"It wasn't any of you," Aline said as she took in a deep breath.

"But you saw someone?" Jace murmured and she nodded shakily. Jace frowned and looked over his shoulder at Alec, who had his lips pursed together.

"It was Clary," Aline whispered, and there was a murmur that ran through the pack. "It was Clary and she was..." Aline licked her lips and she looked past Jace, a distant look in her eyes as she remembered back to the dream she had woken from.

Nightmare.

Premonition, more like.

"She was on fire," Aline's voice was strained and her fingers curled downward, her nails of one hand digging into her thigh while the other began to bite into the skin of Jace's forearm. He ignored the twinge of pain, even as blood was drawn. "Her eyes are purple and she's screaming and—and there's fire _everywhere_ , and she's in the middle of it." Aline winced, squeezing her eyes shut and taking in a shaky breath. Helen tightened her arm around her girlfriend, and the pack all moved in, huddling in tighter around them, sharing as much comfort as they could with the banshee.

Jace lost count of how many minutes they were all there, and if he was human, he didn't doubt that his knees would be hurting and his back would be aching from the awkward position that he was in. Aline took in a deep breath, and once her chemosignals stopped making the whole pack anxious, they began to back away. Aline stayed on the couch beside Helen, while Isabelle and Will headed toward the kitchen, murmuring that they were going to make hot drinks for everyone. Jace shifted so that he was sitting on the couch on Aline's other side, and he rubbed his hand gently up and down her back.

"Jace?" Alec sniffed the air, a crease between his eyebrows. Jace glanced up at the taller man, his head tilted to the side as he sniffed again, his nostrils flaring. "Do you—"

"I smell it to," Max said, his voice quiet. Jace breathed in deeply, but he couldn't smell anything. The only thing that he could smell was the worry that was coming from all of the werewolves, toward their pack member who was in pain, and the fear that was coming from Aline, that always surrounded Aline when she had dreams or visions like these.

"What?" He asked. Alec and Max didn't look concerned, exactly, or at least not _more_ concerned than they already obviously were about Aline, but they definitely looked confused. Alec glanced toward Aline and Helen, and then jerked his head to the side. If any of the werewolves in the house were focusing, then they would easily be able to hear everything that was said, but right now, they were all paying their attention Aline, so Alec and Max stepped into Aline's spare room. "What's going on?" Jace asked, his eyes flickering back to the door. "In all honesty, if it's nothing urgent, then we should really be in there with Aline right now, you know that she needs all of us when she's like this."

Sometimes Aline wasn't able to sleep for days after she had these nightmares, or other times she would just keep falling asleep, but they were fitful and she kept on waking up, screaming. Other times she could still function—eat, sleep, work—but it was all in monotone, and it was only the support of the pack that kept her moving forward.

"You smell different," Max said bluntly, leaning in and pressing his nose against Jace's shoulder and breathing in. Jace felt his heart beat quicken as his eyebrows pulled together, his gaze swinging to Alec.

"Not in a bad way," Alec quickly assured him, stepping forward and slapped his brother lightly on the back of the head.

"'The fuck do you mean, 'not in a bad way'?" Jace snapped, making sure to keep his voice low, hoping that the rest of the pack wasn't paying any attention to them. "Someone's scent doesn't just _change_ ," he hissed as Max twisted his mouth, looking as though he didn't know what to say while Alec just sighed.

"I _know_ that," he said as he rested his hand on Jace's shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze. Werewolves scents were unique, just like with humans and any other beings. But especially Alpha's scents, they were something special, something that his pack was drawn too. And they only ever changed when something drastic happened, like if they were badly injured and on the brink of death, or if their rank changed, like if someone had taken their Alpha spark. Jace couldn't think of any other reason why a scent would change, he definitely hadn't heard of any, so they mustn't be common.

"I—" Jace paused for a moment, and reflexively his eyes burned red, as though just making sure, and when his vision glowed red, he felt a surge of relief.

"It's okay," Alec assured him, squeezing his shoulder again. "It's only a _little_ bit different—"

"Alec," Jace clenched his teeth together, a nerve in his jaw jumping. " _Any_ kind of difference is a difference!" Max glanced between his brother and his Alpha and then stepped forward. He let his eyes glow, a soft gold as he reached out to touch Jace's arm, the one that Alec wasn't touching. It was a soft touch, and it was meant to be comforting. Jace glanced down at Max, who was a few inches shorter than him, and the younger man looked back up at him.

There was nothing but confidence and love in his eyes, and it was clear that whatever had changed in Jace, it didn't shake the faith that Max had in Jace.

"We look after Aline now," Jace said quietly, feeling a bit calmer with the touch of both Max and Alec. "And we'll figure whatever the hell is going on with me later."

 **I've written this about four times now, and I'm just going to keep it simple.**

 **On the 15th of March 2019, there was a terrorist attack in my beautiful country, New Zealand. This is the first ever mass shooting on this level during peace time in the beautiful islands that I have spent my whole life in.**

 **This doesn't happen here. We don't have mass shootings. We don't have a fear of one another to the point where it drums up anger that turns to hate.** **In the words of our absolutely incredible Prime Minister, " _They are us_." **

**We are all one people, and we can't let hate win.**

 **I hope you all spend time with people that you love and cherish, and I hope you never hold back to show this.**

 **Arohanui and Kia Kaha x**


	14. Chapter 14

Jace was snapping and growling at pretty much anyone who looked at him the wrong way.

He felt bad, every time he caught a whiff of confusion from his pack, because it wasn't as though they had done anything _wrong_. They were training harder than they ever had in their life, they were giving him everything that they had because that's what he was asking from them, and he was kicking and pushing them even _harder_. Magnus and Simon kept looking at each other, as though they knew something, but they didn't comment, or at least, they didn't when he was within hearing range.

But everything about him just felt off, and he _knew_ that it was something to do with Clary. He didn't know _how_ , but he was pretty sure it was at least partly because of the kiss. _A lot_ to do with the kiss. However, it was also because of everything inside him that had just felt as though it was _wrong_ , that it was _changing_ and he _knew_ it was because of her. And it made it even worse that he wasn't able to hide it from his pack, since they had picked up on the fact his wolf was going through changes because of the evolution of his scent.

Clary was acting as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened, other than pretty much ignoring him in general.

Although, it wasn't as though she knew him as any different. He had been angry and rude ever since she had met him.

Clary was pretty much leading the training, and even though Jace had a whole lot of resentment toward her growing in the pit of his stomach, he had to admit that she was doing a better job that he was. She wasn't blinded by affection when it came to picking out the flaws of his pack, and neither were Magnus or Simon. They were also pointing things out, Simon more quiet than Magnus, both of them standing on the outskirts. Clary fought the pack members, she got involved in the training, and she was sweating and breathing hard, just like the rest of the pack. She wasn't just relying on her magic, even though she did use it, easily displaying how fast and strong she was physically, and how skilled she was at attacking and defending.

Jace was pretty sure that she went harder on Maia and Will than the others in the pack, sparks shooting from her fingers, her legs and arms seeming to move faster than they did with the others, but he also saw how much they progressed in such a short amount of time. So obviously, the reason that she pushed them further was because she could see their potential.

They were taking a break near the end of their second week when Isabelle walked over to where Clary was wiping her face with a towel. Everyone was taking a breather outside in the fresh air, drinking some water and talking quietly near the side door of the warehouse. Jace watched the red head and his beta out of the corner of his eye from where he was pulling on a sleeveless black hoodie, and he could clearly hear what they were saying.

"Hey, Clary?" Isabelle asked with a tilt of her head. "I was wondering—what's the difference between a warlock and a Spark?" Out of the pack, it was Isabelle that got on best with Clary, the pair of them talking quite a bit when they were taking breaks from training, and before and after. Jace was standing with Alec and Maia, and obviously he wasn't the only one interested, because they both looked up, not trying to hide that they were listening.

"Uh," Clary took in a deep breath, and Jace looked over at her, watching as a few different emotions flickered across her face. Jace wished—he wondered how many times he had wished this—that he could pick up on her emotions and her chemosignals. Instead, he waited for her to speak. Clary licked her lips and shrugged a shoulder, seeming to recover from whatever glitch had occurred in her mind. Magnus and Simon were acting as though they weren't watching her, but they definitely were.

Jace could read their chemosignals easily—they had been caught off guard by Isabelle's question. It wasn't particularly unusual of a question, even if it did start edging onto the personal side. Magic and powers and the supernatural could be very personal, especially for warlocks and seelies.

Jace guessed for Sparks as well.

"I guess there isn't too much of a difference," Clary began, tilting her head to the side and pursing her lips as she thought. "I mean, we are both skilled in the arts of magic. Most of the time, warlocks are more powerful than Sparks—in general they are, and that's why they are better and more common in packs, or the one to go to when someone needs help with magic."

"But the most powerful Sparks are far more powerful than the most powerful warlocks," Magnus commented softly as he came to stand next to Clary, nudging her lightly with his elbow and giving her a small smile. Jace wondered if Clary was one of those 'most powerful Sparks'. So far, he hadn't really seen too much of her magic displayed, but Charlotte had said that she was powerful, and there was this air about her...It was very clear that she could handle herself.

"Sparks draw their power from the earth and the elements," Clary continued, fiddling with the strap of the bag that she had picked up. "A lot of us choose to let the magic remain mainly dormant, a lot of them are known as hippies, actually," she let out a short laugh. "You know, using herbs and things to make cures and heal people. It doesn't take much out of us to do that. Others though...Like me—we use it a lot more in daily life. And everything we use, we draw from the earth, that's why we can—I guess _recharge_ is the word—faster than a warlock."

"So are you more powerful than Magnus?" Isabelle asked the question that Jace had been wondering, a playful smile on her face. Jace wasn't sure if it was because he was _overly cautious_ when it came to Clary, or if Isabelle was just completely missing the way that Magnus and Simon were exchanging nervous looks, or the way the smile looked tight on Clary's face.

"Uh," Clary let out a laugh as she looked over at Magnus and shrugged. "Haven't really compared." Magnus was powerful, Jace knew that from their previous run ins, but there was just something about Clary that told him that she would be the more powerful one. "But yeah, so, Sparks—we pull from the earth, from the elements, whereas warlocks are all, um—all magic, I guess?" She let out another strained laugh, and Isabelle seemed to pick up on the tension in the air and she pursed her lips together, resting back on the balls of her feet.

"We're considered part of the Downworld, like you guys," Magnus added with a twirl of his finger out the door to where the pack was. "Sparks are considered more of the lighter variety. While people naturally assume that we're bad or evil or _whatever_ ," Magnus rolled his eyes. "Sparks tend to be trust worthy and do-gooderish."

"That's so not a word," Simon spoke for the first time that afternoon with a roll of his eyes, and pushed his eyes glasses up his nose.

"Shush," Magnus grumbled and Simon just smiled back at him. Clary seemed to be distracted, pulling at the long braids that her hair was in, twisted around her head. She pulled the pins out that had them circling around her head, letting the two braids fall down on each shoulder. The playful look on Magnus' face dropped and Isabelle pursed her lips together, glancing over Jace as though to confirm that she wasn't just imagining the tension in the air.

"I guess I could be considered more of a warlock, though," Clary muttered, making a face, scrunching up her nose.

"Really?" Isabelle seemed to jump back on that, and Jace had given up pretending that he wasn't listening to their conversation, and had taken a few steps closer to them. He was tempted to reach over and give Isabelle a slap on the back of her head for her curiosity.

"Yeah," Clary shrugged, and there was a distant look on her face, and strangely enough, she looked over at Jace. The look she gave him was strange, it was almost like she wanted something from him, and Jace swallowed hard, feeling this weird kind of guilt in his stomach that he couldn't give her whatever she was looking for. Clary seemed to snap out of whatever trance she was in, and shrugged, looking back at Isabelle with a falsely bright smile on her face. "But my mum identified as a Spark—she _was_ a Spark, so that's what I go by as well."

"That makes sense," Isabelle said with a small smile. She looked toward the door, where the rest of the pack was starting to come back inside. Clary noticed as well, and she looked relieved as she clapped her hands together.

"Let's get back into it," she said, swallowing hard and heading back toward the middle of the room. Jace watched her go, and he wasn't sure what it was, but he was tugged into the middle of the dusty floor. Clary pursed her lips together as he approached, and even though she had been ignoring the bad mood that he had been in, there was a pinched expression on her face. She seemed to switch between uncomfortable to on edge, and she lifted her hands up, holding them loosely in fists.

Jace was only vaguely aware of his pack moving around them, giving them a wide berth but watching them carefully. The world all around him seemed to fade away as he focused on Clary. He could see her doing the same thing, tuning everyone else out as she stared at him. He wasn't angry anymore, he wasn't sure what was going on in his head, he was confused—and he knew Clary was as well.

She threw the first punch.

Jace dodged it, but he felt a tingling feeling running over his skin as her hand skimmed against the side of his face. He kicked out at her legs, attempting to swipe them out from her, but Clary jumped—a lot higher than a normal mundane—and when she came down, her hand lashed out again.

He felt her power.

He felt the sparks coming from her.

Jace felt a jolt inside of him and he lashed out at that, the anger that he had been feeling earlier rising back up.

He _hated_ the fact that she was making something change.

He _hated_ the fact that he didn't understand what he felt toward her—and that he didn't know how she felt about him.

Jace suddenly started moving faster, using a lot more of his power than he had been before. He wasn't sure where he gathered the power from, but he was fighting harder and everything around him was a blur. He felt his arm connect with Clary, he thought that maybe it was her side that he caught, and then her leg smacked hard against the back of his legs. He wondered for a split second how she had gotten behind him, but then he was falling to the floor.

Clary leaped on him, her thighs like a vice on either side of his body, and Jace felt a flash of panic rise through him. She was strong—supernaturally strong—and she was stronger than him. He lashed out with his arms, connecting with her cheek and the other gripping her forearm trying to pull her off him, while he bucked upward to throw her off balance. He didn't manage to dislodge her, but he managed to make her tip forwards, and he flipped them over, so that she was underneath him, her thighs still clamped to his side.

Their movements were almost in sync, blocking one anothers punches and ducking their heads to the side. Jace managed to free his torso from her, but then they just rolled to the side, their clothes quickly becoming coated with dust, sweat dripping down their foreheads and backs, their breathing heavy.

That feeling of panic came back, Jace realizing that he wasn't going to win this.

He was letting her in his head, he could feel her there—he could feel her analyzing him, sensing his movements, following everything he did—and suddenly he felt something inside him snap.

A roar exploded from deep inside him, and he felt his claws extend through his fingers and toes, and he felt his skin beginning to shift, beginning to change. It wasn't the shift into his usual were state, it was something else, and Jace had _no idea what was happening_. He could feel the oppressive panic of his pack around him, and he could feel Clary _there, everywhere_ —just like she _always was_.

There was an incredible surge of power that Jace felt vibrate through his entire body, and he heard the shattering of glass, before suddenly, he and Clary were no longer in the warehouse. He felt the pressure of her against his chest, and suddenly that shifting sensation in his body lessened and his vision blurred.

 **So my song recommendations this week... _Polygraph Eyes_ by Yungblud, I think it's incredible. Also the live cover version _I Will Follow You Into The Dark_ by Yungblud and Halsey, and this also shows incredible chemistry between them. So, Yungblud, real name Dominic Harrison...I totally understand that he's not everyone's cup of tea, but I adore him. He's only twenty-one and he has written some incredible songs. _Polygraph Eyes_ is about sexual assault and the consent issue that is so big right now. _Medication_ that talks about our heavily medicated society, and _Kill Somebody_ , which is a something of a visual representation of depression and anxiety, which hits hard for me. He's really open about his own mental illness and ADHD, and he's continually breaking down gender norms and sexual stereotypes—dude wears more pink that a Disney princess, rocks dresses and skirts, regularly makes out with his guitarist and has a beautiful relationship with Halsey. I recommend him so much, he's just so unapologetically himself and blunt and incredible, please, please, please check him out. **

**TV series and movies...I'm really enjoying _Bull_ and _Ray Donovan_ at the moment. Also, _Animal Kingdom_ , which I started watching for Finn Cole, who is also in _Peaky Blinders_ , and it's fucking amazing. So is _Peaky Blinders_ , though. So both of them. We also recently rewatched _Hairspray_ , which I adore. Haha. **

**Ooh, also! We have release date for the new _Veronica Mars_ series! I feel like I've been waiting a life time for it. And for _Big Little Lies_! I wasn't to keen on a second season just because the first one was complete and there was only one book, but I'm still excited for it. **

**I've gone to a couple of concerts this month; Anne Marie and Billie Eilish. Both of them had such incredible voices live, they sounded pretty much exactly like their studio recordings and they had such insane energy. Anne Marie seemed like a total sweetheart, full of smiles and giggles, and then Billie was just amazing, that girl is going places given she's gotten this far and she's only seventeen. The whole crowd for Billie was on their feet the whole time, even us in the seated section—she was just magnetic. Tickets for her were insane, we only just managed to get some in the last release.**

 **Ooh, and Drax Project have a new music video out for their song _Woke Up_ Late featuring Hailee Steinfeld. My hubby wasn't too happy, because it's got Liza Koshy in it and he finds her frustrating at hell. **

**Now for my questions! Okay...What is a ship, or multiple ships, that have broken your heart, or that have really made you feel just a little fucked up? Can be canon or not. My top one would have to be Hanna/Caleb from _Pretty Little Liars_. I absolutely fucking hated season 6 and 7 of _PLL_ , and I stopped watching it until they got back together, and even then, it actually felt like my whole stomach had been ripped out of my body when there was the whole Spencer/Caleb story line. And then the other two would be Landon/Jamie from _A Walk To Remember_ and Ian/Mickey from _Shameless_. Holy shit. My fucking heart. There are plenty of other couples that really hit me as well, Steve/Bucky from _Avengers_ , Alex/Michael from _Roswell: New Mexico_ , Bellamy/Clarke from _The 100_ , Logan/Veronica from Veronica Mars, Chuck/Blair from _Gossip Girl_ , Will/Alicia from _The Good Wife_ and Jane/Michael from _Jane The Virgin_ to name a few.**

 **Next one; what is your favourite colour? Super easy, right? Haha. Although I don't have one, so maybe it's not...Green or purple? Maybe? Haha.**

 **And then; are you preparing to be emotionally fucked up by _Avengers: Endgame_ , or are you completely indifferent? I'm seeing it in a couple of hours, and I tell you, I am fucked. And I am _going_ to be so fucked. I've looked up every spoiler possible, watched a bit of the leaked footage and I'm still not prepared. If you guys want any spoilers or anything, just message me, and I'll try to retain everything through my hysteria.**

 **Just as my last point, my love and heart goes out to those in Sri Lanka. My cousin and I cried when waking up and reading what happened and I can't even fathom how those who were involved and directly affected are feeling right now.**

 **Love to you all xx**


	15. Chapter 15

Jace felt as though the air had been completely knocked out of him and he was totally confused as to what had just happened. Clary must have transported them, and she was heavy on his chest, and it felt as though he couldn't breath.

 _What had happened?_

He had been starting to shift—but it was _different_. It wasn't a normal shift. It felt as though it was going to take over his whole mind, not just mold his two halves together, like his shift usually did.

And he had felt Clary's power—it had literally felt as though she was drawing on everything around them, becoming one with the air in the warehouse and it felt like he was being completely smothered by the intense power that he could feel and his lungs were expanding and contracting and—

"Hey!" Clary's voice was sharp but her eyes were worried as she lifted herself up, bracing her arms on either side of his head. "You need to breathe," she stared down at him, taking in exaggerated breaths, trying to get him to mimic her. Jace wanted to tell her that she looked ridiculous, but he realized that he couldn't talk, and that started to make him panic even more, and that in turn made breathing even harder.

 _What the hell was wrong with him?_

 _Everything_ just seemed to be going wrong.

"Hey!" Clary repeated, and his eyes came back into focus, staring up at her, and he realized that her eyes were now a vibrant purple colour. That shocked him—and his wolf—and that seemed to ground him a little. He started copying her breathing, in and out, his breaths becoming deeper, and he felt his stomach beginning to expand with breaths and his lungs filled.

He wasn't sure how long they kept doing it, but when Clary rolled off him, he didn't feel quite as panicked as he had before. However, once she had rolled off him and onto the ground beside him, and Jace realized that they were in his apartment, he let out a roar and rolled onto her, his own eyes red, pinning her to the bed with one hand on the bed by her head and the other firmly on her shoulder.

"What the fuck was that?!" He growled down at her, his vision red and his fangs dropping from his gums, slurring his speech slightly. "What the _fuck was that_?! You were _everywhere_ —I could feel you in my head!" Clary stared up at him, and he could hear her heart beating rapidly in her chest, the way that people did when they were frightened, but he couldn't seen an ounce of fear in her eyes.

Then she reached up, grabbing his face with both hands, and smashed their lips together, their teeth clicking painfully against one anothers.

She wasn't frightened.

She was aroused.

Jace let out another growl, this one rumbling in his chest. It wasn't in anger or annoyance or confusion—actually, maybe it was a _little_ bit in confusion—but it was in god damn pleasure, because Clary's body felt so fucking perfect, pressing into his, that he could feel it through every nerve in his body. His toes curled in the shoes he was wearing, and his claws began biting into the skin of her shoulder, where one of his hands was resting.

Suddenly she was pushing back, trying to shove at his shoulders while still keeping their mouths connected, attempting to control the kiss. Jace didn't make it easy for her, it wasn't in his nature to roll over easily. He resisted at first, making her work harder, breathing heavily as their mouths parted, and then she gathered strength from her power, pushing him back so hard his body skidded across the floor, smacking into the corner of the couch. Then she was following after him, climbing on top of him as he tipped backwards onto the couch with her added weight. Their lips came back together, biting at one another, their fingers grabbing at each other, both pushing and pulling.

They were kissing like they were fighting.

Jace shoved at Clary, and she fell off him, onto the ground and he followed after her, knees on either side of her torso, pinning her to the ground as he ignored her lips and went for her neck, biting down hard. He felt her whole body tense at the bite, jerking underneath him, her back arching and her breasts pushing against his chest. They kept on rolling and pushing, through the open plan loft, toward the living room area.

" _Fuck_!" Clary cried out, and he could feel her magic in the air around them. It made his skin prickle and it was making his wolf howl, and he sucked a mark on her neck, feeling this urge inside him to mark her up, bruise her. Clary let him take control for all of ten seconds before she gripped at his biceps, pushing at him with all her strength and with some of her magic and Jace rolled over. They smacked into the coffee table and Jace let out a groan as his head smacked the wooden leg of the table, but then Clary's lips were back on his and he forgot about the twinge of pain.

Kissing her felt so incredible.

Jace had lost count of how many people he had kissed before today, but none of them compared to kissing her. The first time had woken something inside him, something that he hadn't been ready for. This time though, he had been prepared for the onslaught that came with her kisses. It still felt as though he was having an out of body experience, but he had been ready for that.

Jace started fumbling with the shirt that Clary was wearing, and she let their mouths part for a split second for him to pull it over her head, and then he realized that she was wearing a sports bra underneath, with no clip for him to undo. Jace let out a growl against Clary's lips, shredding the bra, and he felt a hard bite on his lip, and when he opened his eyes, she was glaring at him.

"I _liked_ that bra," she hissed at him, and Jace purposefully ripped it even more, pulling it from her body and throwing the scrap of material over his head, an unapologetic expression on his face. Clary let out a growl of her own, her eyes shining purple as she grabbed his own shirt and pulled at it. It didn't shred quite as easily as her sports bra, given he had used his claws and supernatural strength, but it still gave under her grip, and then his shirt was joining her ripped bra, their bare torsos coming together. "Maybe don't be such an asshole, huh? I bite back."

"Maybe I like that," Jace snapped back at her, although as soon as the words were out of his mouth, he tried to figure out where they had come from. But Clary was already lunging back in and their mouths were crashing together and they were falling back on the rug. The whole floor of the loft was polished wood, and this was the only section with a large, plush rug thrown over it, which was thanks to Isabelle and Maia insisting, since they liked sitting on the floor when they were all there watching movies.

He had never been so thankful for it before.

It didn't take long before their pants were pulled off as well, and Clary wiggled out of her own underwear before waiting for him to get to them. He noted off-handedly that they were simple gray bikini cut underwear, nothing frilly or lacy, which he kind of liked but then Clary was tugging at his own briefs and he was pulled back to the present.

"Shit, I—" Jace hesitated, he wasn't sure if he had any condoms. It had been a while since he had been with anyone; he'd been distracted over the past few weeks given the situation that they had at hand and before that, he just hadn't been looking for a few months. "Condoms," he muttered but Clary just shook her head.

"Don't worry," she muttered, reaching out for him with her hands. Jace still hesitated, because he really wasn't sure about this. As a werewolf, he didn't carry any diseases and he couldn't catch any, but he could definitely still get someone pregnant and he really wasn't ready for that. "Don't worry," she repeated again, and there was something in the way she said it, that made Jace trust her. Plus, he could barely keep his hands off her, and it was clear from the way her eyes kept shifting to purple that showed how desperate she was as well.

As soon as their bodies came back together and their lips were together, that urgency was back and the sharp, slightly burning smell of lightning came back and it felt like there were sparks jumping off their skin. They came together, harder and harder, and they were biting and pulling and scratching and Jace's claws were pricking at her skin. His cock was throbbing and leaking, needing her more than he had ever needed _anyone_. From the way that Clary was arching and moaning, he could feel that she had that same need for him, and then she pulled at his arms, reaching between them and grasping his cock firmly. She pumped his cock a few times, her fingers nimble and a bit rougher than he had expected. But it felt so good around him that his eyes actually squeezed shut for a split second and when they opened up, they were bright red again.

"Fuck," Jace growled and he slapped her hand away. Clary glared at him for a moment, and then Jace was grabbing her hips and rolled her over. Clary made a move to lie down, but Jace grabbed her hips again, forcing herself to get up properly on her knees, legs apart just enough for him to fit between.

The instant that Jace slid into her, it wasn't just the incredible feeling of Clary's walls clenching around him that made him go light headed.

It was _her_.

It was every single scent that suddenly washed over him.

He had only ever caught two scents off her before, and they had been so brief it was almost like had imagined them.

But this was _everything_.

It was like complete sensory overload, and it was the best thing that he had ever felt.

He could read every single one of her chemosignals, and it was like a rainbow. She was happy, and nervous, and excited, and panicked, and she felt love and fear and hope and—Jace couldn't even begin to make sense of them. He could smell the spike in her arousal, and the slap of their skin coming together got louder as he got closer to his orgasm, and his fingers started tingling and he wasn't sure if that was just something that he was imagining or if it was the magic coming from Clary.

Everything was so intense that Jace was actually surprised that he didn't black out when they both came.

He vaguely remembered crawling onto the couch and Clary was next to him, and he could still smell her. He wanted to remember that, because he knew that the scratches and bruises from their interlude were going to fade quickly. Then they fell asleep, their warm bodies curved around each other.

When Jace woke up, he was alone in the dark loft.

 **I don't really have the energy for a paragraph thing sorry. I've been fucking spiraling for the past six weeks or so, although I guess I had my birthday? Which was okay?**

 **Um... _Nightmare_ by Halsey is a fucking anthem and I don't know how many times I've listened and cried to it in the past day and half it's been out.**

 **Hope you enjoyed the update.**


	16. Chapter 16

It had been three days since Jace and Clary had slept together.

Three days since he had had the most powerful orgasm of his life.

Three days since he had been hit with the most incredible scents he had ever smelt.

Three days since he had woken up alone after sex, and for the first time in that situation, actually _felt_ alone.

He didn't seek her out, and he told himself that it was because he was giving her some time to adjust. She didn't come to their training sessions at the old warehouse, although Simon and Magnus did. There had been a few questions from his pack, who _knew_ that something was up, because of the way their Alpha and the Spark had left last time they had all been training together, but they also knew better than to ask.

The smell of fresh lightning was fading from the abandoned warehouse and Jace would never admit that he missed it.

The truth, though, the reason why he actually didn't seek her out was because he was scared.

Clary was waking something up inside of him that he had never been aware of before. When they had been in the warehouse, when they had been fighting, before Clary had transported him back to his apartment, his whole body had been shifting. And it hadn't been the usual shift, the one that he had been sliding into since he was a pup. This had felt completely different, and he knew that his pack had felt it as well, because their panic had surrounded him as he and Clary had fought, and it had made his chest expand and fall, it had made his breathing laboured and his head felt fuzzy and confused.

He was _glad_ that she had transported him back to his apartment, because he hadn't want his pack to be scared, and he definitely didn't want them to see _him_ scared.

They needed a strong Alpha.

But even his wolf was confused, it hadn't known what was happening. He had felt it, scratching, whining inside him, trying to do more but not knowing what that more was. His mind had felt as though it had been completely invaded by something that he didn't understand.

And then he had had a panic attack.

At least, that was the closest thing that he could describe it as, even though he was a werewolf and he didn't _get_ panic attacks, he didn't suffer from diseases and health issues like humans did, and he knew that panic attacks were a mental thing, but this just wasn't something he had dealt with before.

On the third day, Jace decided that he needed to find Clary. He wasn't sure why, because it was obvious that she didn't want to speak to him or else she would have appeared in front of him with a click of his fingers. Finding her was hard. He didn't ask Magnus or Simon, because he had a feeling that they wouldn't help him, they would definitely side with Clary. The other way that he would usually find someone would be by following their scent, but it wasn't like that was possible, not when it came to Clary. There was that smell of lightning, that sharp, fresh smell that filled the air when she was around, but it was a smell that lingered, and so it was spread over most of the time, in most of the places that she had been.

He knew her smell, that incredible, intoxicating scent that had hit him full force when they had connected, but he also knew that she would be hiding that from him again, doing whatever it was that she did to keep her scent hidden from him and the rest of the pack.

So he tried not to think where he was going and just followed where his body tugged him. It felt pointless and he really didn't think it would work, but there was something that connected him and Clary, there really wasn't much point denying that, so he used it to his advantage.

And apparently it worked.

Jace found himself in the woods, back in the spot where he had been attacked. And Clary was there, wearing a pair of dark jeans and a singlet, and she was sitting at the base of a tree, her eyes closed and her head tilted backwards slightly. If she was a wolf, Jace would think that she was scenting the air. He approached silently, the predator in him good at keeping quiet, but he knew that Clary could sense him there. Once he was a few steps away from him, he couldn't help but sniff the air.

The lightning was there, but there was also another scent. It was faint, so faint, that it was hard to pick up on with all the other scents that tangled together in the woods. But he caught it, and he recognized it, and he couldn't help but jerk when he realized that it was _fear_. And it was coming from Clary. He pursed his lips together, really not sure on how to begin with her. In the end, he sighed heavily, hoping that she would open her eyes. She didn't and so he took a step closer.

"Are you okay?" Jace asked, his voice quiet. "We haven't seen you in days..."

"Wouldn't have thought that would bother you," Clary replied, although she didn't open her eyes and look at him, and that annoyed Jace. He stepped closer to her again, his body towering over hers. She was sitting cross legged, and her hair was free, and the gentle breeze that was whistling through the trees around them was lifting strands and blowing them in front of her face.

"Thought you were meant to be helping us," Jace continued, because he didn't know what else to say.

"I _am_ helping you," Clary's voice was firm. "I've helped your whole pack. They're better fighters, they're better prepared for what is coming." Jace's eyebrows pulled together.

"What _is_ coming?" He asked her. Clary's eyelids flickered and then, after another moment, her eyes opened and she looked up at him. They weren't purple, but he could tell that she was only just keeping that back, because they weren't green either. He watched the way her throat contracted as she swallowed, but then she dropped her eyes down, looking at the ground in front of her. Jace took in a deep breath and glanced around. "Can you tell me what you're doing to me?" He blurted out and then cut off abruptly, his eyes widening.

That hadn't come out the way that he had expected.

He had meant to be a bit more... _Subtle_ in his approach, and not sounding as though he was a completely clueless idiot.

Clary obviously thought the question was completely out of character as well, because she blinked up at him and cocked her head to the side. Her lips were pursed slightly as she stared at him, and Jace couldn't help the fact that his eyes dropped down to that pretty mouth of hers as he remembered back to when he had tasted those lips. Once, the night that Clary had found him out running alone, and then again, three nights ago.

There was no way in hell that he was going to forget those kisses, but there were more important things on his mind right now.

Like what the _hell_ Clary was doing to him and his wolf.

"There's something going on and I don't know what it is," Jace began after some time had passed.

"Isn't that why I'm here? To help with that?" Clary sighed out, sounding as though impatient.

"Something _other_ than whatever the hell is going on around here," Jace reiterated. "Something with me. I've never felt it before, and I don't understand what's happening, and it didn't start happening until you showed up." Clary looked surprised for a moment, but then her expression shifted, and Jace didn't like it, because he didn't understand. Also, he scented the air subtly, and he couldn't smell anything from her anymore, not her scent, not any chemosignals, she had managed to lock that down again.

He was _really_ interested in how she managed to do that.

He hadn't heard of any warlocks or sparks being able to do that before.

"You know _something_ ," Jace pointed out. "Your face—you were surprised but you know _something_."

"I do," Clary said carefully and then she unfolded her legs from underneath her and raised herself to her feet. "But it's not something that I can talk about right now."

"What? Why?" Jace felt anger flare up inside him. "This shit—it's messing with my head and it's not good for me or my pack, especially when there's something else out there that we're fighting against. I need to make sure I'm on top of everything, that I'm not worried about my own wolf _betraying_ me if we end up in trouble." Clary's face shifted, looking uncertain, and it was a new look on her. She licked her lips, and Jace's eyes dipped for a moment before going back up to her eyes.

"I understand what you're saying," Clary began, and it sounded as though she was spouting out rehearsed lines, the words sounding so formal coming out of her mouth, and that absolutely _enraged_ Jace. "And I can see where you're coming from, but—"

"What the fuck?! No! If you're keeping something from me, don't give me some bullshit that you give to other people when you're telling them news they don't like," Jace snapped at her. Clary licked her lips and she looked uncertain again, but she still looked determined.

"It's not something that I can just tell you," she stated, and from the way she met his eyes, he knew that there was no changing his mind. "I don't know what will happen if I tell you, I don't know..." she trailed off, taking in a deep breath, obviously trying to think about hr next words. "I don't know if you'll be okay." Jace frowned at that. "I don't know if you'll be okay straight away, I mean. You'll be fine after you have time to process and maybe sometime to explore the changes that are happening to you and your wolf, but I don't know if you'll be okay straight away, and you need to be, in time to deal with what's happening here." Jace had absolutely _no clue_ what she was talking about.

"What..." Jace sighed heavily, trying to form all of the questions that were in his head. "What do..." Suddenly, Clary straightened up, her purple eyes sparking and Jace frowned. Then he realized that he could hear someone approaching, and from the scent that he picked up on, there was more than one person, and he knew that they were a vampire.

That confused him and he couldn't help but look up.

The sun wasn't down.

How was it that he could smell a vampire approaching when the sun was still in the sky?

A man came through the trees, walking at human pace. He was wearing pressed pants and a jacket, with a button down, dark purple shirt that were clearly tailor made. He looked completely out of place in the woods with them and as he got closer, Jace knew that his eyes were shining red as well. Clary moved to stand next to Jace and he could feel her magic beginning to hum in the air around them. The man was grinning as he finally came through the woods and stopped a few feet from them.

"Raphael," Clary muttered and he grinned wider, the circle on his neck—the same mark Jace had seen on the man who had attacked him—glowed a dull red.

 **Um...My song recommendations for this week would be _Hitchhiker_ by Demi Lovato, _All You Need To Know_ by Gryffin featuring Calle Lehmann, _Rollercoaster_ by The Jonas Brothers and _All This Time_ by Drax Project, which has just officially been released. The studio version doesn't quite hold up to the live version, it's like there's too much synth and they tried to downplay how powerful the sax it's, which is the best part of the song. I've got this recording of when we saw them at smaller concert, at a club, and the whole atmosphere is fucking amazing when this song comes on, if we're friends on Facebook or Snapchat and you want a copy, let me know and I'll send it through :) But I still recommend the version that's out there on Youtube and Spotify.**

 **Moviewise... _John Wick 3_ was incredible, as expected. I bawled by eyes out in _Rocketman_ , but it was so, so good. I adore Taron Egerton and Richard Maddon, and they played their roles so well. I don't recommend the new Ted Bundy film, tbh. I was looking forward to it, I love Zac Efron and Lily Collins, and Ted Bundy is a fascinating study subject, but...I just felt like it glorified him so much, and it honestly made me feel a bit sick. TV shows I would recommend would be _Madam Secretary, Harlots_ and _High Seas_. Also, did anyone watch the first episode of _Euphoria_? It is absolutely fucking amazing. I bawled my eyes out and my heart hurt and there were parts that hit a little close to home, but shit, it's so fucking good. **

**Lyric of the week...' _My daddy put a gun to my head/Said if you kiss a boy, I'm gonna shoot you dead/So I tied him up with gaffa tape and I locked him in a shed/Then I went out to the garden and I fucked my best friend_ '...**


	17. Chapter 17

**Merp, I've kinda lost track of my updating schedule? *Throws updates and internet cookies***

"Clarissa," Raphael Santiago sung out with a wide smile that definitely didn't reach his eyes. He took a step closer and Jace could feel a growl beginning in his throat at the way that Raphael looked between him and Clary. "You're getting older, love. Age is starting to show on your face." Jace frowned, and he wanted to look back at Clary, look back at her to see what her reaction was since unlike _everyone else_ , he couldn't pick up on her chemosignals or reaction by scent. And he also wanted to see exactly what it was that this guy was seeing, because Clary didn't look old. Although e guessed she looked older, if this guy had known her when she was younger.

Which he was assuming he did, because there was absolutely history between them.

"And you look exactly the same," Clary replied, a bite to her words.

And it didn't seem like it was _good_ history.

"You guys know each other?" Jace asked unnecessarily, but hoping that it would mean he could get something from Clary on what exactly was happening. There were goosebumps breaking out over his body and his wolf was beginning to circle inside him, sensing that something was very wrong. Clary didn't have time to say anything though, because the vampire began talking again.

"Aw, you don't recognize me, Jace?" Raphael asked with a wide grin, and that _did_ reach his eyes, because it was something dark and not as playful as his tone would suggest. Jace stared at the guy, trying to place if he had ever seen the man before. He had met about three or four vampires in his whole life, and none of them were this guy.

"No," he stated. "I've got _no_ idea who you are. No clue." It looked as though the vampire didn't believe him because he let out a laugh.

"You've forgotten me so soon? How sad," he sung out as he examined the Alpha, almost playfully. Jace continued to stare at him, trying not to look confused and look more menacing, but obviously the lack of recognition was clear in his eyes. That seemed to throw Raphael and his head jerked slightly and he looked over Jace's shoulder toward where Clary was right at his back. He could just _feel_ the anger coming off her in waves, and he could feel her anger around them, even though he couldn't smell it in the air. The hairs on the back of his neck and on his arms were all standing up, both in reaction to the vampire with that burn or tattoo or whatever it was on his neck that was the same as the other man, and also in reaction to Clary's magic, which was swelling around them.

"What are you doing here, Raphael? What are _any_ of you doing here?" Clary snapped out, and Jace realized that she knew about the second vampire that was somewhere in the woods with them as well that he had just become aware of. He was glad, because he was trying to focus on whatever the hell was going on with the vampire in front of him, and it was difficult to track the movements of the other vampire at the same time, especially since vampires were even quieter than werewolves when moving, since they could have thousands of years of practice.

Which meant that when Raphael was walking toward them originally, he had been moving noisily on purpose, he wanted their attention. Probably to draw them away from the other vampire.

"Is that a way to greet someone who was like family?" Raphael asked, shaking his head and tsk-tsking under his breath, and Jace's body jerked at the comment, wondering just how close the vampire and Clary had been.

"You are _not_ my family," Clary gritted out.

"Oh," Raphael pulled a face, pouting exasperatingly. "Now that hurt. And I know someone else that that would hurt..." Clary took two steps forward, and it sounded as though she was growling, as though _she_ was the werewolf out of the pair of them. Jace reached out and wrapped a hand around her wrist, tugging her back so that they were standing shoulder to shoulder. He would prefer that she stand behind him, but he was pretty sure that wasn't an option.

"Awww," came a sickly sweet coo, and suddenly a female appeared—another vampire. And this one, Jace recognized the scent of. She wasn't someone that he had met before, but he had smelt the scent on Maia, when Clary had transported her back to his apartment after she had found Maia cornered. "How sweet," she tilted her head as she approached them, coming at a different angle from Raphael. Her lips were painted blood red, her dark hair was flowing past her shoulders and she was wearing a wrap around red dress that showed off her legs and a pair of spiked heels.

Once again, she wasn't exactly dressed for the woods.

"You two were always so sweet together, and you've even managed to find your way back together after all this time," Camille Belcourt purred with a tilt of her head. She took a few steps closer and looked between the two of them and waved a finger at the pair of them before her long, bright red finger nail finished by pointing down at where his was gripping her wrist. "It's almost like you're destined to be together. You two had always been inseparable."

Jace was completely confused.

He had never met Clary before.

Clary had never met him.

And maybe— _maybe_ —they had run into each other at _some point_ through their lives, because Jace had met too many supernatural creatures in his life to keep track of all of them, but they had never been _together_. And if they _had_ just so happened to have met before, Clary would have _mentioned_ it before.

Wouldn't she?

"Look, I don't know who the fuck you think you are," Jace begun, trying to shake of the uncertainty that was surrounding him and his wolf. "But I want to know _why_ you're invading my territory. You and your—your weird circle tattoo or scar thing—it's the same as the people who attacked me and my pack a few weeks ago. _Who_ are you and _what_ are you doing here?" It was Camille's turn to be confused, her face looking similar to Raphael's as she looked over at the other vampire, and then turned her face back to look at the werewolf and the Spark in front of them.

"Interesting," she muttered with a shrug of a shoulder. "So you two found your way back together and it wasn't even intentional?"

This was one of the strangest conversations that Jace had ever been a part of.

"Well, whatever the case," Camille shrugged again and her lips turned upward in a smirk. "We need you two to come with us." There was a snort and then an almost hysterical laugh from Clary.

"Yeah, um, no. That's not going to happen," she bit off at them.

"But we've got someone who _really_ wants to see you," Camille sung out. "Both of you, but especially you, Clary."

"You might say we're not family, and that hurts, Clary, it really does," Raphael put a hand over his heart, as though in pain, even though he was smirking in a way that said his hurt was in no way genuine. "But you've got _actual_ family who would really like to see you." Jace jolted at that, looking sideways at Clary, whose lips were tight at the edges.

Her _family_ was involved in this?

But then, Robert and Maryse had said that they knew her mother, and they would have warned him off if they knew she was bad news.

"He really doesn't know anything," Camille made a face as she looked at Jace. "Ha, you're in for a rude awakening, coz her daddy is after her and you, her Alpha friend." Jace was tired of being the only one who didn't know what was going on. All he really knew, was that these people were the ones that had come into his territory and had attacked and injured his pack. Maybe not both of them specifically—although Camille had cornered Maia and who knows what would have happened if Clary hadn't shown up—but they were a part of whoever it was who was attacking them. They had the same weird tattoo thing on their neck that seemed to pulse red every couple of minutes.

Jace lunged.

In hindsight, giving _some_ kind of warning to Clary would have been a good idea.

But the Spark caught on quickly and she had his back.

It became quickly apparent though, that they were outmatched.

The two vampires were clearly old and they had a lot of experience. Jace was a werewolf, which meant he had supernatural strength and speed, but those were both things that were clearly matched by the vampires, and there were two of them. Clary was a Spark, and so she had magic to help her move faster and push harder, and she was pulling down branches from the trees above them, and she was blocking punches and lashes from the vampires with bursts of purple, but it was like there was something holding her back.

These vampires had something _more_ than just their experience.

Jace couldn't tell what it was, but there was just something more.

And they also weren't going in for the kill.

Generally vampires would immediately go for the kill. Or, more accurately, they would go to maim their prey in whatever way they could. They liked to play with their food, but they didn't like it when that food swiped and lashed out at them.

They didn't want to kill them.

And even though Jace and Clary were slowly becoming over powered, he knew that they had an edge.

Clary was breathing heavily and he could see that the claws or the fangs of one of vampires had managed to swipe her a few times. He honestly wasn't sure if he was helping or hindering them, because he was pretty sure that Clary had more inside of her that she wasn't using, and he didn't know if that was because he was at her back that she was holding back.

 _Or_ if it was because she didn't want to kill the vampires either.

It felt as though they had been dancing around each other in a practiced and lethal dance for hours, but in all reality, it had probably only been about twenty minutes, that Jace got sick of whatever it was that they were doing.

He threw his head back, and he roared.

It would only be a matter of time before the rest of his pack was swarming around them, and the vampires knew that as well. After snapping her jaw one last time in Clary's direction, Camille backed away, with a flare of the red circle on her neck. Raphael was just behind her, and they disappeared into the night, leaving the two panting behind them.

 **So songs I recommend are _I Think I'm OKAY_ by MGK, Yungblud and Travis Baker, which I absolutely adore, and the song and especially the music video give me intense early 2000's feels, and _Lost_ by Dermont Kennedy, which is so damn beautiful, I've completely fallen in love with it. Also _Lost Without You_ by Freya Ridlings, which was sent to me by _Reppinda5o3_ and is completely heart breaking. Umm...I can't really think of many movies and TV series I've been watching lately. Sorry :( **

**Okay, so, questions; what's your lockscreen/homescreen/blah blah blah? My lockscreen is Dominic Harrison and my homescreen is Demi Lovato, both total babes.**

 **Umm...What are you go-to feel good movies? Mine are—not in any type of order— _Princess Bride, The Swan Princess, Stardust, Spirit_ and _Frozen_. Lol. Not even sorry. I think _Catch and Release_ might be working its way onto this list as well. **

**...' _Please tell me I'm your one and only/Or lie and say at least tonight/I've got a brand new cure for lonely/And if you give me what I want/Then I'll give you what you like_ '...**

 **xxxxxxx**


	18. Chapter 18

**Next chapter, beautiful people :)**

"Ah, great," Clary rolled her eyes and let out a long breath through her nose. "This whole place is going to smell like dog, and there's going to be no chance that we're going to trace Camille and Raphael." Jace glared over at Clary and there were a lot of things that he wanted to say to her, including how she knew their names, who the fuck her father was, and why the fuck there had been a hundred and one insinuations that Clary and Jace had more to do with each other than he knew.

He was taking in deep breaths, restraining himself from going after the two vampires because there were more important things on his mind right now. And he figured once he got those things figured out, then he would know a whole lot more about what they were facing.

His pack swarmed the area, Alec arriving first and Jem and Max close behind him. By the time his whole pack was there, Clary was on edge, her eyes swinging around the woods and the trees around them, and he wished he knew what it was that was going through her mind, but another part of him didn't want to know. There were all sorts of things that Clary was doing that were messing with his head, and he didn't know how many more questions he could handle.

Answers, yes.

Questions, no.

"Back to my loft," Jace ground out, his eyes pointed at Clary. He knew that the rest of the pack was going to come as well, there wasn't much he could do about that right now. Or there _was_ , but he didn't feel like it, because he needed their support. Clary didn't look very happy with the order, and she jutted her chin forward, and it looked as though she was going to say no. But then her eyes shifted over him, scanning the man from head to toe, and not in the flirty kind of way, and when their gazes met again, she jerked her head in a nod. He half expected her to click her fingers and disappear in a poof and just appear back in his loft, but she walked with them. Maia glared at Clary when arriving, and she pushed herself against Jace's side. It was in a possessive kind of way, a girl looking out for her Alpha, which Clary could respect.

When they got back to Jace's loft, the rest of his pack was there. They practically swarmed around him, barely letting him up for air, and Clary took the moment of reprieve to go to the back of the loft, standing in front of the windows while she pulled her phone out of her back pocket. She wasn't given any privacy at all, every werewolf in the room was listening in on her conversation, but it was obvious that she didn't care. It was only brief, and it was to Charlotte, quickly skimming over everything that had happened and then murmuring,

"I'm going to tell him." There was a long, stretched out silence on the other end of the phone and Max and Maia didn't even try to hide the fact they were staring at her, waiting to hear the response from Charlotte on the other end of the phone.

"Are you sure? We don't know how muddled it might be in his mind," Charlotte returned, sounding hesitant. "Your mother has powerful magic."

"I broke it," Clary responded softly.

"That's different. You're a Spark," Charlotte murmured. "It's different."

"Him and I aren't that different, Char," Clary reminded her and that got narrow eyed looks from quite a few of the pack. Jace pursed his lips together and then looked around at his pack. He tipped his head toward the door and even though there were a few grumbles from the werewolves and banshee, they all slowly filed out of the loft, leaving the Alpha and the Spark alone. Clary got off the phone and turned around to face Jace.

He was glaring at her, eyes bright red, anger rolling off him in waves.

"Oh, we're doing the whole eye thing again?" Clary rolled her eyes, as though she was bored. "I'm pretty sure we've established that I can do it just as well as you. Better, actually," she looked like she was actually about to smirk at him, and Jace couldn't stop from growling, out of annoyance and frustration.

"What. The fuck. Is going on?" Jace took a step closer to her with every word he uttered, until he was right up in front of her. Clary didn't look all that bothered by the fact that they were only a few inches apart, and she folded her arms over her chest.

"Let's talk," she stated, as though it was her idea.

"I'm waiting," Jace said through gritted teeth. That was when Jace saw that even though her demeanor was casual and her expression was blank, there was panic in her eyes.

She was scared.

Maybe he would feel sorry for her if he wasn't so angry.

"Okay..." Clary took in a deep breath, rolled her shoulders and let her hands fall to her side. She closed her eyes for a moment and Jace wasn't sure what he was expecting to happen, but slowly, her scent filled the room. It wasn't just her chemosignals, telling him that she was nervous and scared and a little bit excited, but it was just _her_ scent. He wasn't surprised that it was tinged with that sharp scent of lightning that followed her everywhere, but it was also soft and flowery, which suited her. Soft and sharp. Contrasts.

And familiar.

Not familiar as in he had smelt it a couple of times before.

Familiar from somewhere else.

Somewhere that made his stomach turn over and his heart tighten.

Jace felt his eyes fade back to their normal gold and he blinked at her, not understanding the emotion that was running through him right now.

"We knew each other, as we were growing up," Clary began slowly. "As in, we knew each other really _well_ growing up. We were born a couple of months apart, our mums were best friends. My mum was a Spark and, well, Celine was a werewolf, obviously." _Celine_. She knew his mums name. She was saying it as though she knew his mum.

She _did_ know his mum.

He blinked again.

"It turned out, though...It turned out things weren't quite as normal with the two of us as our mums thought. Well, our mums and your dad," Clary continued. "My dad is kind of..." she twisted her mouth and searched for the words, and because she was so open to him right now, and he could smell every shift of her emotions. She was sad. She was really sad. It was the kind of devastating feeling that came when dredging up an old memory. Sort of the way Jace felt whenever he thought about his mother, who had died when he was a teenager. But there was something else as well, almost like guilt. "My dad always had this idea, of mixing the blood of two or three different species to create a stronger race." Jace's eyebrows pulled together, because he had definitely heard of people wanting to do that, but it was such a taboo topic. As far as he had known, it had never been done before. "He had been feeding both my mum and your mum demon blood."

" _What_?" The words slid off Jace's tongue without him really thinking about it, and he could hear heavy breathing from his pack around him.

"The demon blood it...It mixed with _our_ blood, you know, when our mums were pregnant. They didn't know anything was wrong—no one knew anything was wrong. My dad had always been a bit...Well, power hungry, but no one had ever really thought that he would do something like _this_. I mean, he couldn't have known what would happen to us with demon blood! He could have killed us, for all he knew. I was his own daughter, and you were Stephen's son, who he had known for _years_!" She carried on talking but Jace's mind got caught on that name.

Stephen.

His father.

Clary had memories of his father.

Was he meant to have memories of his father?

Celine had always told him that he had died, not long after he was born, and that was why he didn't remember him.

But now there were flashes, of a blonde haired man with a wide smile. Of eyes so similar to Jaces, and a deep voice that made him feel as though he was missing something.

"You knew my father?" Jace asked softly, his breath catching in his throat. Clary paused and blinked at him, and he could see the pain in her eyes.

"You did too," she told him. "Just...Think." Jace tried to follow the strains of memories that were coming back, but he couldn't hold onto any of them. They were all fleeting, like there was something blocking her thoughts. "It will come back...Or it should. My mum wiped your memory. Everything before you were nine. She did the same to me as well, everything before I was nine, but I think because I was a Spark, I was able to recover everything a lot earlier than you."

"How long ago?" Jace asked her abruptly.

"When I was seventeen," Clary answered. Jace wasn't sure how old she was, but he was guessing that seventeen was at least a couple of years ago.

"Wait, you said that we were the same age?" Jace checked.

"Yeah," Clary gave him a small smile. "Twenty eight." She did _not_ look twenty eight. Jace took in a deep breath and then let it out slow.

"What else happened?" He prompted. Clary's smile dropped and she licked her lips quickly. She wasn't nervous, but she was worried, and he was trying to figure out if the worry was for herself or for him. Whatever the case, he kept his eyes on her face.

"Mum and Luke—Luke Garroway, he was a friend of my mums, a werewolf—they realized that something was wrong. They noticed things with my magic, and then there was this...Incident with you—"

"What incident?" Jace snapped.

"I don't know the details," Clary told him, and he could sense that she was being honest. "I was only eight, I just remember you being scared," she was concerned, and that was when Jace knew that she was worried for _him_. It felt strange, because he knew it was deeper than the concern that ran for a general person. And that was because they had history. "They all confronted my dad, and attacked him. But...The problem with my dad is he can absorb powers—that's _his_ power. If he kills someone, he gets their full strength. If he's close to them, he can share their strength. From what I understand now, he's also figured out a way to share those powers, among the others in the Circle." The Circle. Original name. Jace was guessing that had something to do with tattoo or scar things. "My dad...He killed Stephen, and Luke," Clary's voice caught and Jace stared at her, unflinching. "Celine thought that it was best to separate us and she asked my mum to wipe our memories. She thought that it was best that we had nothing to do with each other, to limit the chances of us being found by dad and the rest of the Circle."

"Until I called," Jace muttered.

"Yeah," Clary chewed down on the corner of her lips for a moment. "Charlotte knew my mum. She agreed to come out here, to keep an eye on you, make sure you were okay." Obviously that's why she continued to help him and his pack, even though she had absolutely no interest in becoming his emissary. "When she called me here, it sounded urgent. I was...I was a bit worried about coming here. I knew the history we had together, but I knew the lengths that both our mothers went through to keep us apart, to keep us separate. But when I found out that it was the Circle who was here, who was causing trouble for your pack, I knew I had to stay."

"And you did that without telling me any of this?" Jace bit out. His anger was coming back. He knew it was coming from a place of confusion and hurt, but right now, all he could feel was anger. "You knew all of this, this whole time, and you kept it all from me?!" His voice was getting louder, and for the first time, he saw Clary flinch. She actually looked scared—of _him_. "Get _out_."

"Jace, I—"

" _Get out_ ," he growled at her, and he felt that stretching feeling from inside him. Like his skin was getting tight and his bones were trying to morph into something that he wasn't. "Get out!" Clary swallowed thickly and then did as he asked.

She disappeared in a shimmer of purple.

 **Alright! Another mass update! I'm just...In a super shitty place right now, completely mental, my life is actually in a really good space—isn't it great when that happens? But writing is generally therapeutic so...Here we go.**

 **Movies I would recommend would be _Where The Heart Is_ , which is an old time favourite for me, and _How To Be Single_ , which I actually quite like, even though I don't like Dakota Johnson. It's like my love for Leslie Mann cancels that out though. Haha. I don't know...Both of these movies make me really sad and happy at the same time, so it's good.**

 **Songs that I've recently fallen in love with are _Perfectly Wrong_ by Shawn Mendes, _Chateau_ by Angus & Julia Stone, _You Make It Easy_ by Jason Aldean and _Marry Me_ by Thomas Rhett. Recommend any songs that you guys have had on repeat recently :)**

 **Hope you're all doing well, and please leave a review and let me know what you thought of the chapter because I love your comments x**


	19. Chapter 19

**Okay, this is gonna be another one of these months you get two updates in month, so...*throws internet cookies***

Jace couldn't put it all together.

It was coming in flashes and feelings, but he couldn't make sense of them all.

At first, he was completely focused on his dad.

His mum had told him that he had died, when he was just a few months old, and he had accepted that. He didn't have any reason to doubt it. He grew up with his mother and with the Lightwoods, and he been an Alpha for as long as he could remember. His mother had told him that it was because his father had passed him the Alpha spark when he died, which was unusual for someone to do to a baby, generally it would be passed to another member of the pack until the child was more prepared.

But if Stephen had done it because he wanted to give his son every bit of a strength that he could, every chance of surviving with the demon blood that he now knew was coursing through his veins...That was more understandable. Plus, now he knew that Stephen hadn't died when he was a baby, it was around when he was eight. It wasn't as unusual for an eight year old to have the Alpha spark passed on to them as it was for a baby.

He wished that he could talk to his mum.

He wished that she could help make sense of all of this.

He wondered how much the Lightwoods knew, but Alec and Isabelle showed absolutely no knowledge of knowing who Clary was and that made him think that the Lightwoods didn't know anything. Alec and Isabelle were both old enough to have remembered _something_ from when they were younger if they did know anything. He could always ask Robert and Maryse, but if they had been asked by Celine not to tell Jace anything, Jace didn't want them to compromise themselves in a promise they had made to a dead woman.

There was also Charlotte, who Jace _knew_ had to know something. Probably Lydia as well.

But even though Charlotte and Lydia had helped him out of a bind on a couple of occasions now, there was still something holding him back from trusting them.

And now, he felt even more reason not to trust either of them, given their _whole reason for being here_ was to 'keep an eye' on him.

Jace gave up focusing on his dad, and he tried to build the picture around him instead.

He lay back on his couch, a cushion behind his head and his feet propped up on the arm of the couch on the far end, eyes closed as he looked up at the ceiling, and chased down everything he could remember about Clary. It came back in bits and pieces, but it came back a lot more steadily than things about his father. It was because he know knew that he had a history with Clary, and because she had finally let him know what she smelt like, and it was surprisingly easy for things to start coming back.

He saw the two of them playing out in a field, magic all around them, flowers blooming in all different colours. Jace was laughing and running and Clary looked as though she was gliding, almost flying beside him.

He saw them, a little bit older this time, on the floor of a house, shouting at each other, practically nose to nose. He felt, rather than saw, the sensation of someone picking him up, and a dark skinned man was picking up Clary and pulling her back as well.

He saw Clary's eyes going purple while she had her nose scrunched up adorably. Jace knew that she was so, so happy in that moment, even though Clary's eyes only changed for about half a second before fading back to their original green colour.

He saw them clutching at each other, and he knew that they were both absolutely petrified. There was another boy, a few years older than them, and he was standing at a doorway in front of them, looking through the slightly open door.

And then someone was hitting the floor and Jace was shouting and trying to reach for the fallen body, and Clary was at his side, holding his arm, nails digging in.

Jace opened his eyes, because the memories that were coming back were making his heart go all over the place and he really didn't know how he was meant to feel. He knew Clary. It appeared, he knew Clary well. He could feel everything that he had been feeling then; the happiness, the anger, the pride and the fear. Happiness at being with his best friend. Anger over whatever it was they had been fighting about. Pride at seeing her eyes change for the first time. Fear because...Fear because he had just seen his father die.

Tears gathered and fell almost immediately, and he didn't even know how to stop them.

He couldn't remember the last time that he had cried—it might have been when his mum had died. There were just all of these feelings tangled up in his chest right now, and he couldn't make sense of them.

And then there was the fact that he had just realized that he had seen his father die.

That person who had hit the floor had been his father.

He had been _right there_.

Jace sat up, not bothering to try and stop the tears as he reached for where his phone was on the low table in front of him. He sent off a text to Isabelle, knowing that she would gather up reinforcements before coming over.

He was going to have to talk to Clary.

He was going to need her help.

He hated that, but he wasn't going to be able to sort through all of this on his own.

More things came back, without him even wanting them to. He got visuals of his mother and father together, laughing and holding hands and he was sitting on the floor in front of them. Then there was another man with hard eyes, standing next to a woman with fiery red hair and eyes like Clary's, and she was smiling at the man. Then there were more of him and Clary, and from the impression he was getting, it seemed as though Camille had been right.

They really did seem to be inseparable.

It wasn't long before the door of his loft was opening, and then Isabelle was on one side, and Alec was on the other. Max was practically sitting on his feet, his head in Jace's lap, and Maia was standing behind the couch, leaning forward so that her arms were wrapped around Jace's shoulders.

They didn't try to take the pain from him, they would never do that without his permission, but he could feel them trying to comfort him. Just the way they were touching him and their familiar scents filling his nose were helping, and the tears stopped coming after a while, but there was still an ache in his chest.

"You want to talk about it?" Isabelle asked softly, her lips close to his ear. Jace thought for a moment, but it was a lot to explain, and he didn't even totally understand, so he wasn't sure he could tell them. He shook his head once, and there weren't any further questions, because they respected his decision.

"You need sleep," Alec was the next one to speak. "Come on," he tugged at Jace's arm and Jace went along with the motion, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet even though it felt a bit strange to be the one being looked after instead of the other way around. Maia lead the way to Jace's bedroom, Alec and Isabelle were on either side of him and Max was following close behind. Jace kicked out of his jeans but left on his shirt, then climbed into bed. He felt the four members of his pack all get into the bed around him. It was a bit of a squeeze, but nothing that they hadn't done before, and that they had done with a lot more of the pack, which was why Jace had such a big bed.

It took a while, but then Jace felt himself going to sleep.

The last thing that he felt before going to sleep was the slight sensation of Clary's magic in the room with them. He could feel it surrounding him, brushing over his arms and ruffling his hair, and that scent of lightning was there, making him feel surprisingly calm. He didn't question why it was there, or why it was comforting when the whole mess that his life had turned into was _because_ of her. He just let himself fall asleep.

* * *

Jace woke up because of Max.

Max and Jem were the most sensitive ones in the back, and Jace was especially in-tune with Max because he had known him pretty much his whole life. Max was shifting around where he had a thin blanket thrown over him at the foot of the bed, and he lifted his head after a few moments, meeting Jace's eyes. He looked scared and Jace frowned as he stared down at the beta wolf.

"Max?" He asked softly.

"Are we going to be okay?" Max asked him, his voice barely loud enough to be heard, even with Jace's supernatural hearing. Jace hated that Max had to ask that, and the way his voice sounded so small. He stretched out his hand toward the younger boy, and Max took it, fingers wrapping around Jace's wrists in a fireman grip. Jace held on tightly, pressing his thumb against Max's wrist.

"We're all going to be fine," Jace told him, his voice firm and even. Max stared at him for a long beat and then nodded, accepting what his Alpha said.

Then there was a shrill scream, that pierced all of their eardrums.

A banshee scream.

One that was probably not as loud as they were hearing it, and the rest of the township most likely couldn't hear because they weren't pack although the houses around her definitely would have, but every werewolf in Jace's room heard.

Aline.

 **I watched the movie _It's Kind of a Funny Story_ for the first time, I've been meaning to watch it for years, but I just never had. I'm really glad I did, so I definitely recommend it. It's got Zach Galifianakis, Viola Davis and Emma Roberts and it's just a really really good. Sort of similar to _Perks of Being a Wallflower_ , although nowhere near as good since that's my favourite movie of all time. Haha. Also as I'm writing this, we're watching _Big Hero 6_ and I just adore this movie so much. They're all just amazing, and Tadashi is just...The most beautiful person in the world. Oh, and the other day I watched _Need For Speed_ again, which is just a mindlessly car racing movie, but I love Aaron Paul and Imogen Poots and so it's great. Haha. **

**For TV shows, I've recently started _The Bold Type_ , and I'm completely in love, the three main girls are adorable, I don't know which one is my favourite so far. None? All? All, I think. And I absolutely love Alex. And Jacqueline is a fucking goddess. Honestly, the show just makes me so happy. Also _Crashing_ , which was fucking hilarious. Some of the lines in it were really cruel, actually, which kind of cut for a comedy show. I absolutely fucking LOVED Melody and Colin and Sam. Particularly Melody. Also, _Derry Girls_ , I've recommended it before, I'll do it again. Haha. My husband and I have watched it sooooooo many times, it's generally our go-to when stoned. Haha. **

**Okay, so songs... Uh, some old ones I've been listening to— _Forever_ and _Sex Metal Barbie_ by In This Moment, um, also _Blood_ and _Adrenalize_. Slow _Fade_ by Ruth B, which is beautiful, _Cringe_ by Matt Maeson and the acoustic version is even better. _None Of My Business_ by Cher Lloyd and _Takeaway_ by The Chainsmokers and then _Hope For The Underrated Youth_ by Yungblud, which I bawled my eyes out over the first few times I listened to it. **

**Okay; questions...Anyone into _Veronica Mars_? Anyone been into Veronica Mars since they were a child? Oh my god. I was so fucking disappointed by the reboot. Like, my entire heart dropped. I only got two episodes in, and I wasn't really enjoying it, I just felt like Veronica wasn't characterized well, she had actually regressed, and then I read the ending, and I just refused to go on. So...That's disappointment dating back to my primary school days. **

**Umm...Favourite song right now? Mine is _hammer_ by nothing,nowhere.**

 **And how many tattoos do you have? I've just gotten my second one, and I think I'm getting a third in November, and then I've got plans for, like, four others.**

 **Anyway, drop a review, they make my day :)**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey, guys! Just a quick heads up that I'm not sure if there will be two updates for every story next month, like there has been for the past couple months, we'll just see how it goes. Working a lot at the moment and my husband and I are doing renovations on our home and just general busy life stuff, so don't have a lot of free time right now x**

It was the same thing as before.

Clary.

Clary on fire.

Aline said that it was so intense that she could feel the burn of the flames on her skin and the smell of fire was filling her nostrils.

That was different.

It was images and short scenes, but it wasn't sensations like what she was getting now.

Aline was scared, and understandably so.

Helen was scared as well, not just because her girlfriend was having recurring visions of someone being killed, but also because there was something wrong with her Alpha—they could all feel it.

Jace wasn't telling them what was going on, and he hadn't told them about what had been said when he and Clary had been confronted in the woods by Raphael and Camille. They all knew that there was something more going on, given Clary had been AWOL for the past couple of days and after the conversation that Clary had had on the phone with Charlotte that the rest of the pack had overheard, that just cemented the fact that they knew that there was more going on here than what she was telling them.

Maia wanted to hunt her down and tear out her throat if she threatened to withhold any more information.

Alec had managed to talk her down from that standing.

She then suggested that they just hunt her down in general and have a talk to her, but that didn't sound any less scary than her first suggestion, especially since Maia's temper could get out of hand so quickly.

It was at that point that Jordan had put his arm around his girlfriend and pulled her into his side, murmuring quiet things against the side of her head. If she wanted to pull away, she was substantially stronger than him, given she was a werewolf and he was only human. But she let him calm her down, which was good.

More things had been coming back to Jace as the days went by, mainly things about Clary, and he had a feeling that that was because he already had a connection to her, both now and then. He knew her scent and he knew the way her skin felt under his fingers. It made it easier to remember things about her. However, it didn't make it easier for him to figure out how he felt about her.

Mainly anger, a lot of anger, and before there had been hesitation and distrust, but now there was a whole complicated tangle of emotions since he had all of these memories that he couldn't completely put together just yet.

He wondered if he should reach out to her, send her a text to the phone that he knew was a burner and that she was going to throw away once she finished with this job. But then he stopped, because he was the one that had told her to leave, and he wasn't sure how he was going to react when she saw her again. He wasn't sure if he was going to be angry again—furious that she had kept all of this from him in the time that she had been in the town. Spiteful that she had been alive for the past eleven years, knowing things about their past together while he was there, completely oblivious. Or maybe he should be happy, to have someone who had been so closely entwined with his childhood who was giving him back these memories that he had lost, including memories of his father, even if they were painful for him to process.

Jace decided against contacting her and pushed ahead with training.

Harder, faster—no excuses, no backing down, go for the kill, don't second guess yourself but don't go in blindly. Using things that Clary had opened his eyes to, the faults in his pack, he worked on them, and he tried to work on himself. Magnus was still there, at every single training session, and he also worked a lot with Jordan and Aline, who couldn't quite train in the same way that the werewolves did.

Simon came as well, but he wasn't quite as involved as Magnus was. He stood on the outskirts, watching them all through his glasses and sometimes he would video them and Jace knew that he was sending it to Clary. If he spoke, Jace and the rest of his pack knew that it was advice coming from Clary.

Jace was surprised from that because he never really took Clary as someone who backed down so easily, but then he also wondered if maybe he was just overthinking it, thinking that it had too much to do with him when in all reality, she was probably out there, trying to track down the people after them.

The Circle.

 _Her father_.

Simon came into the warehouse on the fifth day after Jace had found out his history with Clary. It was late, close to midnight, but they had only gotten started about two hours ago because Maia had gotten off work late and Aline had a lot of catch up to do at her own job. She had barely been sleeping, since every time she shut her eyes, she was getting visions of Clary burning. Simon looked frazzled, and his breathing was rapid, and everyone in the warehouse stopped what they were doing to look toward him.

"What's going on?" Jace snapped out as he came over to stand right in front of Simon. Magnus came in a moment later, looking put out, just like Simon. Unlike Simon, though, he was managing to keep himself in check, and it didn't look as though he was going to have an aneurysm.

"The wards that Clary and I put up around the town have been tampered with," Magnus said, his words coming out a lot more calmly than Jace was guessing Simon's would. "Someone's fucked them up—not exactly destroyed them, but shredded them, made holes, and there are trails of that person all over town." Jace took in a deep breath and rubbed a hand over his face.

"What are we supposed to do? Act as though we're totally defenseless now that the wards are down?" Maia snapped.

"Well..." Simon shrugged, looking as though he was all for that idea. "There were already wards around the town before, ones that Charlotte put up. And then when we came in, Clary put more around the place. So...You know...They were definitely helping to keep us all safe."

"But they aren't the _only_ thing keeping us safe. Because _we_ keep each other safe as well," Alec pointed out. "Besides, if they were completely effective, those vampires wouldn't have been able to come in."

"And if Charlotte had strong wards up in the first place, they obviously weren't doing all that much because we got fucking attacked by that Alpha," Isabelle continued.

"Right. Well, now that we have established that none of us are safe—especially the scrawny, breakable human named _Simon_ —can we all just decide to find some hole to disappear into and huddle up there until this storm blows over?" Simon looked as though that was going to be his next step, as soon as he left this warehouse.

"Haven't you been through shit like this before?" Maia made a face at Simon. "Haven't you been with Clary for a while?"

"Yeah, I've been helping Clary out since we were fourteen years old, and I've dealt with a lot of shit. But I've never dealt with The Circle. I've never dealt with the someone who has the ability to share his power—who can make vampires walk in the day. I've never dealt with an untrained Spark who is given unlimited power. I've never dealt with Clary's father and I never wanted to," Simon stated, sounding confident and scared all at the same time, and making Jace wish that he had filled in his pack a bit about what he had found out.

He hadn't actually realized that, the fact that the reason the vampires could be out in the day was because they were sharing powers with people who weren't vampires, but given the information that he had been given by Clary, he should have put it together.

From the stares he was getting from his pack, he knew that he was going to have to tell them about what Clary had shared.

Maybe not everything, because he wasn't quite ready to share his personal history just yet. Not until he had sorted it through it himself.

And spoken with Clary about it with a level head.

" _What_?!" Isabelle cried out.

"You _knew_ about this?!" Alec's voice was sharp. It was only a split second later that the rest of his pack all started to talk, their words spilling over one anothers and just becoming a jumbled mess and Jace sighed.

"Okay, hold on," Jace began. The yelling just got louder and he took in a breath. "Quiet!" He shouted, his voice booming off the sides of the warehouse, his eyes flashing red and managing to bring his pack to silence. He jerked his head in a nod and then looked over at Simon and Magnus. "Have you guys got this under control for a while?"

"Shit, well, doesn't seem like we have much of a choice, given you've got all this—" Magnus waved a brightly coloured fingernail at Jace's pack with a slightly amused look tinging his expression even though the situation was serious. "—To deal with." Jace looked around at his pack, and the questioning—and angry—looks on their faces and sighed. "Clary and I have put extra wards up around all of your places but...We would still suggest staying together..." Magnus drifted off, and his eyes sought out Alec purposefully, a slightly gentler look on his face. "For your own protection, please stay together." Alec swallowed hard and his younger brother nudged in close to his side.

"Thanks, Magnus," Jace muttered. "Let me know if you hear anything else, okay?" Magnus nodded, and then he and Simon were quickly leaving the warehouse. Jace too in a deep breath and turned around to face his pack.

This was going to take a while.

 **Songs that I recommend are _Die A Little_ by Yungblud, _Teeth_ by 5SOS, _Love Myself_ by Olivia O'Brien and _Middle Finger_ by Bohnes, all of which have just been on repeat for the past week or so. Also, my husband is completely obsessed with _Motivation_ by Normani and _Slide Away_ by Miley Cyrus, so I've been hearing those a lot recently as well. Lol.**

 **I've been fighting this cold/flu/virus things for moooonths now, and I took a day off work coz it hit hard and I was feeling sorry for myself and I just spent it watching fluffy movies that make me happy. Haha. _Footloose_ , the original one, of course, even though I don't mind the new one. _A Cinderella Story, Ever After, Raise Your Voice, Centre Stage: Turn It Up, What A Girl Wants, The Prince & Me, 13 Going On 30 _and _High School Musical_ so those are my recommendations! **

**Okay, so questions—how many of you guys are planning on getting Disney+? Haha. It's just been announced that it _will_ be getting released in New Zealand, which we were worried it wouldn't be because so many streaming services aren't. But it's gonna be here in November and me and my partner are _psyched_! Haha. **

**Is everyone else heartbroken about the Sony/Marvel breakdown? Honestly, my heart goes out to Tom Holland the most, because he has done such an incredible job. There's always going to be a special place in my heart for the OG Spiderman, but there's just something about Tom's version, he was fucking amazing and had so much heart, and I'm just _so upset_ that there isn't going to be more of him in this verse. He seemed so heart broken at D23. Poor baby :(**

 **Last one! Anyone watch performances at the VMAs? I honestly kind of think the VMAs/Oscars/The Golden Globes yadda yadda yadda are pretty bullshit, pretty biased, so I don't pay too much attention to the nominations and the winners, but I live for the outfits and the, like, two or three performances from artists I like. Lizzo and Missy Elliott were fucking _amazing_ , and I screamed when Alyson Stoner came out on stage. Miley Cyrus' performance was totally heart breaking, so fucking good. And Halsey and Jonathan Van Ness were my stand out outfits! Oh also—Joe and Nick Jonas and Sophie Turner's reactions to Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes not kissing in their set was fucking hilarious. Let's face it, I think anything involving Sophie is hilarious—did you guys see her pasta related Instagram story? Ahahahaha. She's amazing. **

**Drop a review, let me know what you think, love you lots x**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey, guys! Before getting into it, I want to recommend some of my favourite songs as of late... _Undrunk_ by Fletcher. _Dance Monkey_ by Tones and I. And then of course _Kill My Mind_ by the beautiful Louis Tomlinson and _Lights Up_ by the just as beautiful Harry Styles, although the _Lights Up_ music video was an experience and a half, especially while high. _Pretending_ and _Honest_ by Mali Koa are just beautiful. Then _Promise Me_ by Badflowers, which...Made my heart hurt when I heard the song, and then when I watched the video, I cried for the next hour. Yeah. I just wanted to share some happy things, since my note down the end isn't as happy, I guess. Anyway. On with the story x**

A few more days passed by, and there was still no sightings of Clary. Jace knew that she was around because he could smell her, but he didn't catch any glimpse of her. That wasn't surprising, given she could disappear with the snap of her fingers, so if she didn't want to be seen, then she wouldn't be. Jace didn't want to admit it, but he wanted to see her. With the memories that kept on coming back, he wanted to talk them over with her, wanted to make sure they were real, wanted her to confirm the feelings that he had when he thought back on their history together. He was managing to build on the flashbacks he was getting, get a bigger picture, and that included more images and feelings about his father, and he was pretty sure that he would get more if he could speak with Clary.

But it was clear that she was avoiding him, and even though that frustrated him, he tried not to let it fester.

There were bigger things that were weighing on his mind right now, and they needed his full attention.

Simon had stopped coming to the training sessions as well, although Magnus was still there, helping them out. He was pushing them harder, though, almost brutally, not giving them any reprieve as they panted and their bodies grew tired. It took a lot for them to _get_ to the point of tired, a hell of a lot more than humans, but Magnus got them to that point, over and over again.

Jem actually collapsed during one of their training sessions, and there was another time—it was after midnight and she had just finished a twelve hour shift—that the only thing keeping Maia on her feet was sheer stubbornness. Magnus didn't relent, even though he he could see she was faltering, and he sent a charged bolt of electricity flickering through the air and it hit Maia in the side, and that was the last thing it took before she was crumbling to the ground, and it was clear that she wasn't going to get back to her feet.

Jace wanted to stop.

He hated his pack being in pain.

But he knew that they needed this.

Clary had said that Valentine could absorb the powers of others and that he had learnt to share them with people he wanted. It didn't take much to guess that the 'people he wanted' were the ones in The Circle. So far, they knew that Valentine had at least two vampires, an Alpha werewolf and a Spark working with him. There were more, they knew that as well, although he wasn't sure how many, and in all honesty, it didn't matter. With two vampires, an Alpha and a Spark, that was _a lot_ of power to be sharing.

Jace knew that he was safe, to a certain degree. They didn't want to kill him just yet—him or Clary—which had been clear when they were fighting the vampires. But they _did_ want to take them in, to Valentine, also known as Clary's father. He wasn't sure what was going to happen there, but probably nothing good, which was why he needed his pack to train.

If something happened to them, they needed to be able to carry on without him.

They needed to be able to protect themselves and they needed to trust one another, rely on each other.

Alec would be the one who inherited his Alpha spark if anything happened to him, and he knew that Alec would look after everyone, but he needed _them_ to be able to look after _Alec_ as well.

Because something bad was coming.

Even though Aline's fear was all about Clary, at the moment, Clary was with them, and her being caught up in flames...Jace didn't even want to think about that, about what that meant for his pack, and about what that meant for _him_.

He had only just gotten Clary back into his life, a part of him that he hadn't even known was missing.

He couldn't bear for it to be snatched away.

Not just yet.

Jace's pack had taken the information pretty well, when Jace was telling them about what Clary had said. He left out the whole part about he and Clary had been friends, and the fact that he was now remembering things like the fact his father had been killed right in front of him by Clary's father, but he did say that both himself and Clary had been experimented on at the same time. There were raised eyebrows at that, and Maia had grumbled under her breath that she _knew_ Clary was trouble, but Isabelle had just jabbed her in the side with her elbow and said that she was no more trouble than Jace. Isabelle clearly had taken a shine to Clary, and Jace was glad about that, because Maia most definitely _hadn't_.

They weren't stupid.

They knew that there was more that Jace wasn't telling them, but they didn't push. They sensed that it was too raw and personal for him to share just yet, and he appreciated that. Right now, he was still trying to process everything, and he wasn't ready to put it all into words, even to his pack.

"You going to tell us the rest of it later?" Alec murmured as they were all leaving the warehouse that night.

"Later," Jace confirmed with a jerk of his head.

Now, three days later, they were making sure to keep one another safe. Jordan and Maia had moved in with Aline and Helen, Jem, Max and Isabelle had moved into the loft with Jace, and Alec was there a lot as well, but he was also with Magnus a lot. They weren't asking any questions about Alec's relationship with Magnus, deciding that they could deal with it later. When they went into work, they were escorted by someone else in the pack, and although it meant a lot of maneuvering in their schedules, none of them minded.

Jace and Alec were running in the woods.

Maybe it wasn't the smartest thing to do. Or, really—they _knew_ it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but it was getting closer to a full moon and they were both almost crawling out of their skin with the need to shift. Jace knew that it wasn't fair that he wasn't allowing the rest of the pack to transform and run, but they were using a lot of their energy in training, more than Jace and Alec were, since they were the ones pushing them to train faster and harder, and he just didn't want to risk something happening to them that they couldn't protect themselves against because they were too exhausted.

They made sure to keep to the edges of the woods, just in far enough not to be seen by any humans who might have been out at the field that backed onto the woods or driving along the road, but not in deep enough that they were at risk of getting trapped.

At least, they hoped.

It was just going dark, dusk settling in with only a few streaks of colour left in the sky, when Jace and Alec slipped into their werewolf selves. Jace felt the bones of his hands and feet shift and his nails lengthen, and his face creased so that his forehead was more angular and there his hair became more coarse. His teeth sharpened and long fangs bit through his jaw, and he was running a whole lot faster.

But his wolf wasn't happy.

His wolf was still trying to stretch and lengthen and was fighting with his shift into a werewolf. It wasn't as though it wasn't expecting his change, but it was as though it was fighting for more, _desperate_ for more. Jace shook his head, his steps faltering slightly as he tried to get rid of that nagging feeling that had been growing and growing over the past couple of weeks.

It had something to do with Clary being around.

He couldn't put his finger on it, but he hated it.

The transformation into a werewolf was meant to soothe that itch inside him, because he was giving in to his wolf, allowing his wolf half and his human half to combine together and it was always where he felt whole again.

Ever since Clary had been around, he just didn't feel comfortable in his own skin, and it put him on edge, which was really not what he needed right now.

They ran for nearly an hour, Jace trying to push down the discomfort that was aching in his bones, telling him to let go and release whatever it was inside him that was trying to get free. Alec could sense the discontent, and he had ignored it for a while because it was obvious that Jace didn't want to talk about it, but then Alec slowed, and he let his eyes fade back to their usual blue.

"Jace?" Alec asked quietly. "What's going on?" Jace stopped as well, flexing his fingers and toes, shaking his head and letting out a full body sigh as his face shifted back to fully human, although his eyes were still red, out of sheer frustration.

"I don't know," Jace growled out. He hated this, he knew that he had to be strong for his pack. "Something is wrong and I don't know what it is."

"Well, there's some crazy guy coming after us and it turns out that he can take power and give it back tenfold and he's got an Alpha and vampires on his side. We know that," Alec stated and Jace let out a huff of laughter as he pushed his hair away from his face and looked over at his second in command. Alec gave him a tense half smile, knowing that wasn't what Jace was referring to. "The stuff that's going on with you...Does it have something to do with Clary and the rest of what she told you? The things that you haven't told us yet?" Jace pursed his lips and shrugged.

"I'm not sure," he murmured. Alec didn't push any further, and the two turned to head back into the town. Isabelle had tried to get them to take the car, so that they could park it at the field beside the woods and drive there and back. Jace and Alec just wanted to run, and even though Isabelle grumbled about double standards, they had left without the car.

Now Jace wished that he had taken it, because running—even as a human—just didn't feel right. It still felt as though there was something scratching inside him and straining so hard that it hurt.

When they got back to Jace's building, Alec and he exchanged looks, something feeling off. Isabelle wasn't home because she was at Aline and Helen's place, along with Maia and Jordan, and Max was meant to be at the loft with Jem. But something just didn't feel right as they hurried upstairs to the loft and saw the door wide open.

Jem was stretched out on the ground, eyes closed and blood dripping from a slash in his head that had already healed over. There was the smell of wolfsbane in the room, which had probably laced whatever weapon it was that had been used to knock Jem out.

Max wasn't there.

"Jem!" Jace dropped to his knees by the young werewolf and shook his shoulder until he opened his eyes. Jem's eyes were hazy for a moment before they panicked.

"They took Max!" He cried out and Alec's whole body tensed. Jace felt anger surge in him and he howled, Alec's howl mingling together with his.

 **Alright, so, obviously I didn't update last month. My bad. I'm in a pretty shitty spot, to be honest, mentally and physically and I've just got a lot going on right now. I'm still dealing with the abrupt loss of a family member and the fall out of that on my family and recently my husband has had a colleague take his life, which has brought up a lot for him. We're going to be okay, we're dealing with things, but I just need to take a breath right now. When I am in front of my computer and I'm actually focused enough to write, I'm not sticking to the schedules that I had before and I'm just writing what I really feel like which unfortunately hasn't been these stories. So I'm just...Gonna take a step back for a bit.**

 **You guys are all beautiful, and I'll be back soon, I just need a bit of a breather to re-centre myself.**

 **Since updating last, it has been World Coming Out Day and World Mental Health Day and I just wanted to say to anyone dealing with mental health issues and anyone in the LGBTQ+ community, whether you are out and loud or still processing things internally, you are all beautiful and deserve love and kindness. Just because I'm going to be away for a little bit, doesn't mean I'm unreachable, feel free to message me on my socials or on here if anyone ever wants to just chat, even if it's just about movies or songs, we all need to look after ourselves first, and then one another.**

 **Much love xx**

 **Tumblr: SereneCalamity**  
 **Twitter: CalamitySerene**


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